Netball SA seeks to host World Cup

Netball SA is hoping to beat New Zealand for the right to host the 2023 World Cup‚ a victory that would boost morale after losing the title sponsor for its premier league.

The federation’s president and CEO told journalists in Johannesburg on Wednesday that it expected to hear within the next few weeks if its bid to stage the showpiece in Cape Town was successful.

A decision by the International Netball Federation is expected by March at the latest.

The projected cost of hosting the 16-team competition at Cape Town’s convention centre is R68m‚ but it would generate a total spend of about R2.5bn.

New Zealand‚ Australia and England have hosted the tournament most often in its 14 years. Singapore and Jamaica have hosted it twice each and Scotland and Trinidad and Tobago once apiece.

“We haven’t had a World Cup‚” Netball SA CEO Blanche de la Guerre said. “If we don’t get it‚ we’ll never get it.”

President Cecilia Molokwane said the department of sport and recreation had signed the required guarantee for the bid.

The proposed legacy project would include developing the game in Africa‚ which already boasts three national teams in the world’s top 10 – SA at fifth‚ Malawi sixth and Uganda seventh.

On the premier league‚ which Netball SA wants to use to develop players for the 2023 event‚ especially if it is in Cape Town‚ Molokwane said it had been looking for a company to fill the void left by SAB‚ which withdrew its Brutal Fruit sponsorship at the end of 2018.

“There will be a premier league this year‚” she said‚ adding that an announcement on the event would be made by mid-March.–