Czech-American tennis legend Martina Navratilova has said that Taliban men are evil and Afghanistan’s cricket team should be boycotted from international cricket. She spoke about the dire situation faced by Afghan women under Taliban rule and condemned their oppressive policies against women in the country, which have been criticised widely.

Since the Taliban’s return to power four years back, women have been erased from public spaces, prompting the United Nations to denounce the gender apartheid the administration has established.

Taliban has banned post-primary education for girls and women, restricted employment and blocked access to parks and other public places.

“Taliban men are evil. I will keep saying it because it’s true. And boycott the damn cricket team,” Navratilova tweeted on Friday night.

A longstanding advocate for gender equality, Navratilova has criticised ICC for its ‘bias’ against Afghanistan’s women’s cricket team.

Taliban said that the ban on post-primary education was a ‘temporary suspension’ that would be resolved after the establishment of a safe environment for girls to attend school, but no changes have been made till now.

Navratilova also criticised the Taliban’s new restriction that prevents Afghan women from pursuing medical education. She tweeted a video early last month which showed girls being blocked from entering a medical school by the Taliban.

“The Taliban are evil. All men. All Evil,” Navratilova had tweeted back then.

The Afghanistan cricket team are currently playing a Test against Zimbabwe in a two-match series, the first of which was drawn. In November, they stunned Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series, winning it 2-1. Before that in September, they defeated World Cup semifinalists South Africa by the same margin in an ODI series.

Afghanistan had also reached the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in June last year, where they lost to South Africa. They will next be seen in the Champions Trophy, where they will begin their campaign against the same opponents on February 21 in Karachi.