The Taliban has announced that women will not be allowed to play sports and this includes the Afghan women's cricket team. A senior Afghan official said that Afghan women will be prohibited from playing sports, where their bodies might be seen.
The status of every woman and woman's organisation has been thrown into question after the extremist militant group ousted the US-backed government.
Female athletes who once aspired to compete at the international level have resorted to hiding or attempting to flee the country.
“Every woman playing cricket or other sports is not safe right now,” a member of the women's team recently told the BBC. The Afghan men's team is in preparing to visit Australia for a test match in November.
The Taliban announced an interim government on Monday. On Tuesday, the Biden administration expressed concern over the lack of women in the government. After the group took control of Kabul, leaders of the group called on women to join government forces.
Over 20 years ago, when the Taliban was ruling Afghanistan, women were denied the right to education, were mandated to wear the niqab, weren't allowed to step out of the house unaccompanied and would be punished for wearing makeup.
“It is the media era, and there will be photos and videos, and then people watch it. Islam and the Islamic Emirate do not allow women to play cricket or play the kind of sports where they get exposed,” the deputy head of the Taliban’s cultural commission, Ahmadullah Wasiq said. “It is not necessary that women should play cricket,” Wasiq said.
The Taliban's position could threaten Afghanistan's membership in the ICC, which requires countries to have women's teams qualify.
