But even Khalida Popal – the former captain of the country’s national football team and one of Afghanistan’s most vocal proponents for change – admits that she’s shocked at the extent that governing bodies such as the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Fifa have been complicit in marginalising women’s sport in the country.

A group of British lawmakers urged England to boycott their Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan next month, saying the country's cricket board (ECB) needed to take a stand against the Taliban's crackdown on women.

England's men's players have the "power" to make their own stand and refuse to play Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy, says Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi.

England will face Afghanistan in their second group game of the 2025 Champions Trophy, but more than 160 politicians have called for a boycott over the Taliban's outlawing of female sport

Among the stranger details of Jonathan Trott’s role coaching Afghanistan is that he has yet to set foot in the place.

A set of politicians in the United Kingdom urged the England Cricket Board to abandon their match against Afghanistan in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 citing restrictions over women by the Taliban. In a letter signed by more than 160 lawmakers, the officials wanted the England players to speak out against the treatment of women in Afghanistan.

Richard Gould, the ECB's chief executive, has rejected calls from a group of British politicians for England to boycott their upcoming Champions Trophy clash with Afghanistan in February, saying that the Taliban regime's clampdown on women's rights is a matter that requires a "co-ordinated,

The UK government says the International Cricket Council should "deliver on their own rules" relating to women's participation as the England men's team resist calls to boycott their upcoming match against Afghanistan.