Cricket South Africa has confirmed it will continue to engage Afghanistan in bilateral fixtures because it does not believe in punishing the men&s team for the Islamic Emirate&s actions in their home country.CSA&s statement comes in response to criticism including from activist organisation Lawyers for Human Rights, which called for CSA to boycott Afghanistan due to the Islamic Emirate&s policies on women and girls.In a statement issued on Thursday, CSA confirmed that although it believes &women&s cricket deserves equal recognition and success,& it would not unilaterally isolate the Afghanistan men&s team for its country&s government policy.&CSA remains mindful that gender equity should never come at the expense of one gender over another,& the statement said.

&We recognise that advocating for the advancement of one gender should not undermine the rights of the other.

CSA believes there is no justification for subjecting Afghan cricket players & both male and female & to secondary persecution for the actions of the Taliban (IEA).

We will continue to engage with member countries within the formal structures of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to address this matter.&Cricket Australia, on the other hand, has taken the opposite position and on advice from its government has refused to play Afghanistan bilaterally in protest against the Islamic Emirate&s policies on women and girls.South Africa and Afghanistan are currently playing a three-match ODI series in the UAE.Afghanistan won the first ODI by six wickets to register their first ever victory in cricket against South Africa.The second ODI will be on Friday. The post South Africa confirms it will continue playing bilateral cricket with Afghanistan first appeared on Ariana News.