One member of the Afghanistan Under-19 cricket team and three board members have reportedly refused to return to Afghanistan and are "seeking asylum" in the United Kingdom. Earlier, several Afghan sportsmen and women had fled Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power in August last year.

Pashtovoa.com confirmed the development related to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). A member of the Under-19 team and three board members "have fled to the British capital, London, seeking asylum", it reported.

The report cited two sources from the ACB, confirming that four officials had refused to return to the country, without revealing their identities.

On Monday, the ACB posted pictures on its official Twitter account, informing about the team's return to Afghanistan.

If true, this would be the first time since the arrival of the Taliban in Afghanistan that an Afghan cricketer and board members have sought asylum in a foreign country while on an official tour. 

The Afghan team had defeated Sri Lankan by four runs in the quarterfinal of the U-19 World Cup but went down to England by 15 runs in a closely-contested semifinal. Afghanistan then finished fourth after losing the third-place playoff to Australia by two wickets.