ECB to raise concerns over funding of Afghanistan Premier League

The APL's draft was held on Tuesday, with Moeen Ali and Alex Hales among the eight England players to win deals, and the league is due to launch in the UAE on December 27. However, it is yet to receive an ICC sanction - the approval process is ongoing - and owners have only been confirmed for three out of five franchises.

The ICC launched a new franchise leagues subcommittee earlier this year, which includes ECB chief executive Richard Gould among its members, to review its sanctioning regulations. These take into account minimum event staging standards, such as anti-corruption and anti-doping measures, and demand full details and due diligence on the identity of team owners.

England do not play bilateral fixtures against Afghanistan due to the Taliban government's oppression of women and girls, which ECB chair Richard Thompson described as "gender apartheid" last year. The same phrase has been used by Amnesty International and United Nations experts to describe the situation in Afghanistan.

"It does concern us because Afghanistan relies largely on ICC funding," Gould told the Cricketer magazine. "I think they take about $14 million a year from the ICC. It constitutes probably over 80% of their income. We know that they don't have a domestic TV market. They don't have the ability to sell tickets.

"I'm worried that they're using ICC money to fund the Afghan Premier League when all of the other members are funding Afghan women's cricket. And that doesn't seem right to us. So, that is something that we will be working on over the next few weeks."

The ICC declined to comment, though it is understood to consider the revenue distribution model - which was approved by the ICC's board in 2023 - to be a distinct issue from the launch of a new franchise league.

Gould said the ACB's decision to stage a draft before the APL has received a sanction has left the ECB in "a difficult position" and said that he wanted to "focus on the system" rather than criticising the players involved. He did, however, confirm that the ECB will speak to them before they play in the league "so that they understand what they're doing".

Gould's comments come as Nahida Sapan, who captained the Afghanistan refugee women's team on their tour to England this summer, encouraged overseas players to reconsider their decisions to sign up for the APL.

Sapan told the BBC's Stumped podcast: "I feel really disappointed that foreign players have chosen to take part in this league. Foreign players had a real opportunity to stand with millions of Afghan women and girls by choosing not to participate.

"It may have seemed like a small action, but it could have sent a powerful message and put pressure on those responsible. This is not about being against cricket or Afghan men's cricket. It is about standing up for basic human rights."