England v Afghanistan: Boycott not the way to go, says captain Jos Buttler
2025-01-21
Category: sports

England's match against Afghanistan at the Champions Trophy next month should go ahead despite calls for a boycott, says captain Jos Buttler.A cross-party letter, signed by nearly 200 UK politicians, was sent to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) calling for England to refuse to play in response to the Taliban regime's assault on women's rights.Female participation in sport has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban's return to power in 2021.Speaking publicly on the issue for the first time, Buttler said: "Political situations like this... as a player you're trying to be as informed as you can be."The experts know a lot more about it, so I've been trying to stay in dialogue with Rob Key [ECB managing director of men's cricket] and the guys above to see how they see it. "I don't think a boycott is the way to go about it."
What is the background?
Calls for a boycott grew at the start of January with the sending of the cross-party letter. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi said England's players should use their "power" to "make a difference".Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the government was speaking to international counterparts on the issue but Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy later said the game should go ahead, adding that boycotts are "counterproductive"."They deny sports fans the opportunity they love and they can very much penalise the athletes and sportspeople who work very, very hard to reach the top of their game," she told the BBC earlier this month.International Cricket Council (ICC) regulations state full membership is conditional upon having women's cricket teams and pathway structures in place.However, Afghanistan's men's team have been allowed to participate in ICC tournaments seemingly without any sanctions.The ICC is keen to use its position and the sport of cricket to influence change in the country and does not believe it should punish players for government policy.ECB chief executive Richard Gould wrote to the ICC, calling for more action from the global governing body after what he called "gender apartheid".He stopped short of calling for an immediate boycott but did ask the ICC to place "immediate condition" on Afghanistan's full member status to provide women's cricket by a certain date.
'I'm led by the experts'
England, who played Afghanistan at the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 50-over World Cup, are in India for a white-ball tour which begins on Wednesday.They are scheduled to play Afghanistan in Lahore on 26 February. The Champions Trophy, which is being held in Pakistan and Dubai, begins on 19 February."The players haven't really worried too much about it," Buttler said."These things, you're trying to educate yourself and read up on these things."There's been some good stuff written about it that I've tapped into and I've spoken to quite a few people to try to gather expert opinion. I'm led by those experts on situations like this."But certainly as a player, you don't want political situations to affect sport. "We hope to go to the Champions Trophy and play that game and have a really good tournament."