Shahid Afridi defends himself for his remarks on his children playing only indoor sports

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has defended himself after causing a furore with his writing about his children. The maverick all-rounder, in his newly-released autobiography ‘Game Changer’, has written he would not let his daughters play any sort of outdoor sport. Afridi, who is the father of four daughters, had gone on to say that his decision was motivated by “social and religious reasons”.

At a time when the entire world is fighting for the equality between men and women, such a comment from an influential figure like Afridi was totally unexpected and definitely uncalled for. Not only that, but Afridi had also said that feminists can say whatever they want about his decision. He had gone on to say that it was his decision to stop his girls from playing outdoor games before insisting that his wife is also on his side on the matter.

“They have my permission to play any sport as long as they’re indoors,” Afridi wrote in his book. “Cricket? No, not for my girls. They have permission to play all the indoor games they want but my daughters are not going to be competing in public sporting activities. I’ve made this decision and their mother agrees with me.”

But not very surprisingly, Afridi faced the heat on social media. BBC journalist Fifi Haroon said Afridi’s views were “terrible” and “disrespectful” while eminent Pakistani journalist Taha Siddiqui added, “What a misogynist”.  With the matter getting out of the hands, Afridi took to Twitter to clarify the excerpts in his book.

Afridi’s clarification:

Afridi, on Sunday, posted a couple of tweets to bring the matter under control. In his first tweet, the all-rounder wrote he would support his daughters’ ambitions in addition to guiding them.

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“My life revolves around them. They all have some ambitions in life and I will support them while guiding them as a responsible father,” Afridi wrote on Twitter.

In another tweet, the legendary allrounder tagged Fifi Haroon while writing: “I don’t judge anyone for what they do or meddle in people’s life. I expect the same too from others. May Allah bless my daughters and daughters/women all over the world! Let people be.”

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