South Africa Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie revealed that he supported the calls of boycotting their national team’s match against Afghanistan in the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, slated to be played in Pakistan from February 19 to March 9.
The Proteas are scheduled to kick off their Champions Trophy campaign against Afghanistan in Karachi on February 21 but McKenzie urged Cricket South Africa (CSA) to not honour the fixture, citing the alleged women’s rights violation in the Asian country.
"Cricket South Africa, the federations of other countries and the ICC [International Cricket Council] will have to think carefully about the message the sport of cricket wishes to send the world, and especially the women in sports," he said in a statement on Thursday.
"It is not for me as the Sports Minister to make the final decision on whether South Africa should honour cricketing fixtures against Afghanistan. If it was my decision, then it certainly would not happen.
"As a man who comes from a race that was not allowed equal access to sporting opportunities during Apartheid, it would be hypocritical and immoral to look the other way today when the same is being done towards women anywhere in the world," he added.
McKenzie’s remarks came after more than 160 British politicians have signed a cross-party letter to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to call for the boycott of England’s match against Afghanistan, scheduled to be played on February 26 in Lahore.
The remaining team in the Group B are Australia, who have already postponed bilateral T20I series against Afghanistan twice on the same ground.
The two sides, however, faced each other in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2023 and Men’s T20 World Cup in 2024.
