More than three and a half years after the Taliban’s return to power, Afghan women’s rights remain brutally suppressed — and among those affected are 20 members of the country’s women’s cricket team who fled into exile and are now campaigning for the right to play.
According to Sky News, many of the players were under 18 when they fled Afghanistan in 2021. Fearing reprisals, they destroyed medals and certificates that once marked their sporting achievements.
“We faced huge challenges — leaving Afghanistan and starting a new life in Australia was not easy,” said 21-year-old Firoza Amiri, who had just signed a national team contract before the Taliban takeover and burned her medals to stay safe.
Unending restrictions and deferred dreams
Since 2021, women and girls in Afghanistan have been barred from schooling beyond sixth grade and even simple freedoms like visiting parks or playing sports. As of March 7, 2025, 1,266 days have passed since the school ban, with Taliban promises to reopen classrooms remaining unfulfilled. Cricket — once a symbol of hope for Afghan women — has been entirely shut down.
Amiri and teammate Banafsha Hashimi, 22, now living in Australia, are urging the International Cricket Council (ICC) to recognize them as an official refugee team. “We don’t understand why they are silent,” Amiri told Sky News. Hashimi added: “We’re not asking for anything but our rights.” The ICC has yet to respond to repeated requests from the players or to inquiries from Sky News.
A stark contrast: men play on, women sidelined
While Afghanistan’s men’s team retains full ICC membership and competes in major tournaments, including the 2025 World Cup, the women remain excluded — despite ICC rules requiring full members to field both men’s and women’s teams. “We’re in the same position as the men’s team, but they play in championships and we don’t,” Amiri said. Seventeen-year-old teammate Shabnam Ehsan added: “We deserve the chance to compete at the highest level and show the world what Afghan women can do.”
From escape to hope
In January, the exiled squad played a prominent match in Australia — their first since fleeing Afghanistan — though not under Afghanistan’s flag. The country’s tricolor appeared only in the stands among supporters. The players say their goal extends beyond sport: they want to represent millions of Afghan women erased from public life.
“This is the time for the council to support us, to back our team and help us play cricket,” Amiri said.
The world looks away
Afghanistan has largely slipped from global headlines, yet Sky News warns the plight of Afghan women should weigh on the world’s conscience. Nowhere else in modern times, the report notes, have women’s rights been rolled back so rapidly and severely.
Despite the silence, the exiled cricketers remain hopeful. “We just want the International Cricket Council to recognize our rights — we deserve better,” Hashimi said. For now, their dreams, born from the ashes of burned medals, wait for the day the world finally listens.
