{"id":15556,"date":"2025-03-07T20:12:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T16:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deeyar.tv\/?p=15556"},"modified":"2025-12-01T00:49:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T20:19:58","slug":"%d8%a7%d8%b2-%d9%85%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%87%d8%a7%db%8c-%d8%b3%d9%88%d8%ae%d8%aa%d9%87-%d8%aa%d8%a7-%d8%aa%d8%a8%d8%b9%db%8c%d8%af%d8%9b-%da%a9%d8%b1%db%8c%da%a9%d8%aa%d8%a8%d8%a7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/15556\/","title":{"rendered":"From Burned Medals to Exile: Afghan Women Cricketers Fight for the \u201cRight to Play\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than three and a half years have passed since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, during which time the rights of women and girls have been \u201cbrutally\u201d suppressed. Among the millions affected, twenty members of Afghanistan\u2019s women\u2019s cricket team\u2014forced to flee their country\u2014are now fighting in exile for their \u201cright to play.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Sky News, several of these women were under 18 when they fled. After the Taliban takeover in the summer of 2021, they were forced to destroy their medals and certificates to avoid reprisals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firoza Amiri, 21, one of the players, told Sky News: \u201cWe faced huge challenges. Leaving Afghanistan and starting a new life in Australia was not easy.\u201d She had just signed her contract with Afghanistan\u2019s national women\u2019s team but lost everything within days and had to burn her medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endless Restrictions and Deferred Dreams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since the Taliban\u2019s return, Afghan women and girls have been barred not only from education but also from basic freedoms such as going to parks or sports grounds. As of 7 March 2025<\/em>, 1,266 days have passed since girls above grade six were banned from school, and the Taliban\u2019s promises to reopen schools remain \u201cmeaningless.\u201d Sports\u2014especially cricket, once viewed as a promising path forward\u2014have been entirely shut down for women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now living in Australia, Firoza and Banfasha Hashemi, 22, want only one thing: recognition as the Afghanistan Women\u2019s Refugee Team by the International Cricket Council (ICC). \u201cWe don\u2019t understand why they remain silent,\u201d Firoza said. Banfasha added, \u201cWe\u2019re not asking for anything other than our rights.\u201d So far, their repeated requests have been ignored, and Sky News reports that the ICC has not responded to the network\u2019s inquiries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Clear Double Standard: Men Play, Women Are Forgotten<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While Afghanistan\u2019s men\u2019s cricket team continues to hold full ICC membership and competes in tournaments such as the 2025 Champions Trophy, Afghan women are barred from the field entirely. This is despite ICC regulations requiring full member nations to have a women\u2019s team. \u201cWe are in the same position as the men,\u201d Firoza said, \u201cbut they get to play in major tournaments and we don\u2019t.\u201d
Seventeen-year-old Shabnam Ehsan added: \u201cWe deserve the chance to compete at the highest level. I want to show the world that Afghan women can shine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Escaping Darkness, Hoping for Light<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This January, the exiled players took part in a major match in Australia for the first time since fleeing Afghanistan\u2014yet they were unable to play under their national flag, even as the Afghan flag appeared among the spectators. For them, playing cricket is not only about sport\u2014it is a way to represent the millions of women and girls who have been erased from public life. \u201cThis is the time for the ICC to stand with us,\u201d Firoza said. \u201cTo support our team and help us play cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A World That Has Moved On<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Afghanistan no longer dominates global headlines, but Sky News warns that the fate of Afghan women and girls should weigh heavily on the world\u2019s conscience. Nowhere else in the modern era have women\u2019s rights been stripped away so quickly and so completely. Although some Taliban leaders have privately expressed doubts about these policies, the reality is that the group\u2019s war on women has been its most effective strategy since the U.S. withdrawal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite everything, these athletes remain hopeful. \u201cWe just want the ICC to recognize our rights,\u201d Banfasha told Sky News. \u201cWe deserve better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But until international bodies like the ICC act, the dreams of these exiled cricketers will remain suspended\u2014dreams rising from the ashes of burned medals, waiting for the day the world finally listens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than three and a half years have passed since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, during which time the rights of women and girls have been \u201cbrutally\u201d suppressed. Among the millions affected, twenty members of Afghanistan\u2019s women\u2019s cricket team\u2014forced to flee their country\u2014are now fighting in exile for their \u201cright to play.\u201d According […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afghanistan","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15556"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37686,"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15556\/revisions\/37686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeyartelevision.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}