New Delhi: As England gets set to play Afghanistan in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 on February 26 in Lahore the match has become an item of political tussle. Several British political leaders raised their objections and pressed for the game to be boycotted. Labour Party MP Tonia Antoniazzi has been highly critical writing to the chief executive officer of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Richard Gould. Among other things she condemned the insidious dystopia and sexist apartheid women in Afghanistan have been going through with the Taliban regime demanding the situation to be addressed. This rising political pressure does highlight the larger debate on sports diplomacy versus human rights. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi called for the English cricketers to abstain from playing Afghanistan in the forthcoming Champions Trophy arguing that it would send a sharp message against Taliban abuses. The idea was rejected by ECB chief Richard Gould who stated that ICC must take the lead as unilateral action by one country can hardly address the issue. As the England captain addressed the growing controversy before the opening T20I at Eden Gardens Kolkata he said Knowledge is of course power. Buttler confirmed that he spoke to the ECB managing director Rob Key about the situation and he expressed the opinion that a boycott was not the right answer to the problem at hand. Political situations like this as a player youre trying to be as informed as you can be. The experts know a lot more about it so Ive been trying to stay in dialogue with Rob Key and the guys above to see how they see it. I dont think a boycott is the way to go about it Buttler said in the press conference. The players havent really worried too much about it. Youre trying to educate yourself and read up on these things. Theres been some good stuff written about it that Ive tapped into and Ive spoken to quite a few people to try and gather expert opinion. As a player you dont want political situations to affect sport. We hope to go to the Champions Trophy and play that game and have a really good tournament he added. In the group stages of the Champions Trophy England will meet Australia and South Africa. Jos Buttler is under more pressure already due to Englands lackluster performance in qualifying for the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-finals and hence for the 2024 T20 World Cup finals. Should England perform poorly in the Champions Trophy Buttler could be dropped as captain.