A dozen disabled cricketers boycott ACB

KABUL’s disabled cricket team players on Monday said they had boycotted the game’s governing body, accusing it of no cooperation.

The players numbering 12 said they had announced their boycott with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) a few days ago.

Seven of the players addressed a press conference in Kabul and accused the ACB of extending them no cooperation or arranging training camps and foreign tours.

Speaking on behalf of others, Sherin Agha said the remaining five disgruntled players could not attend the press conference due to personal engagements and academic exams.

“We are being insulted at the board’s gate where we are subjected to searches and looked with suspicion,” he said.

Agha thanked founder and former general manager of the disabled cricket team, Abdul Manan Massoud, for his untying efforts at facilitating the team.

He said Massoud and 20 supporters had also boycotted the ACB.

Another player, Abdullah Lewal, said after their boycott, the board selected new players as their replacements but the new comers had even not played in a domestic event.

He said a training camp has been set up for the new players. “The board has signed a one-year contract with us, but we have not received our stipends for the past four months and neither we were issued member cards.”

Sherin Agha asked when there was no event in 2018 for disabled cricketers, why the ACB was running a training camp for the new disabled players.

They said their boycott led to the suspension of the Asia Cup for the physically challenged in India. The disabled players said they should be treated like other players.

One of them, Zubair Zadran, warned their boycott would continue until the ACB leadership was ousted. He said they had many times shared their problems with the board officials, but failed to elicit any response.

Pajhwok tried to seek comment from ACB spokesman Farid Hotak, but a contact could not be established.

About three months, some 20 players, including managers, had announced their boycott with the ACB. While a few days back, a protest tent was erected in front of the ACB office, with the protestors accusing the board officials of corruption.

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