The Taliban have assured that they will not interfere with the Afghan men’s national cricket team, the country’s most popular sport. The Taliban told the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) that work for the men’s team could continue as planned, Reuters reported. ACB said that two training camps in Kabul have been completed and they have sponsors. The team should even be able to play in the Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates this fall.
Meanwhile, the future of smaller women’s programs, also run by ACB, remains unclear. The ACB has currently 25 contracted female cricketers, whose contracts were awarded in November 2020, as well as multiple programs for girls, but according to a BBC report, ACB expects the incoming Taliban authorities to block plans to create a national women’s team. The salaries of these female cricketers are currently being kept, but if the new government decides that the national women’s team cannot move on, it will have to stop, ACB said. Awarding contracts to women was part of a plan towards developing a women’s national side.
