By Mark Gleeson CAPE TOWN (Reuters) -South Africa Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie said he supported calls for a boycott of Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, adding his voice to those of British politicians who have called on England not to play them next month.

South Africa's Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has openly backed the increasing calls to boycott Afghanistan in the upcoming Champions Trophy. His position comes in line with British politicians who have called on England to not play against Afghanistan next month.

England’s cricket authorities have rejected calls to boycott an upcoming match against Afghanistan in the ICC Champions Trophy over the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls. Richard Gould, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB),

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.

Former Northern Ireland first minister Baroness Foster has called for the England men's cricket team to boycott a match against Afghanistan. She is one of seven MPs and peers from Northern Ireland, along with more than 160 other parliamentarians, to have backed a boycott due to the Taliban regime's oppression of women.

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

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is 40 days away, but the controversies are taking no stopping, as the South Africa Sports Minister, Gayton McKenzie, is the latest person to join the boycott movement of the mega event.