The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) recognizes and acknowledges the importance of Cricket South Africa (CSA) negotiating comprehensive Future Tours Programmes (FTP) to ensure that our national teams are competing at the highest level.
The Proteas Men white-ball series against Afghanistan later this month is one such series that forms part of the FTP. Whilst Cricket Australia has postponed series against Afghanistan to date, CSA has elected to proceed with this series.
We respect the position of CSA in this regard as the national governing body for cricket.
However, on behalf of all professional cricketers in South Africa, it is incumbent upon SACA to reaffirm our commitment to supporting and promoting the participation of women in cricket. The deteriorating human rights for women under the Taliban rule cannot be ignored in the context of cricket.
Andrew Breetzke, SACA CEO and World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) Board Member; “WCA and SACA do not condone any situation in which women’s players are excluded from competing in our sport. Every athlete has the right to equality of opportunity which is protected by international law and set out in the Universal Declaration of Player Rights. That means each player has the right to equality of opportunity in the pursuit of sport, free of discrimination, harassment and violence. A player’s right to pursue sport cannot be limited because of his or her gender. We urge CSA to utilise the leverage available to it through this series to highlight that these rights for Afghanistan’s women’s players must be protected and respected.”