• Calls for Minister to expedite election 

Sri Lanka’s preparation for the Asian Regional Qualification round ahead of guaranteeing its place at the 17th edition of the 16-team Netball World Cup to be held in Australia in 2027, has hit a roadblock, The Daily Morning Sports, learns.

This stems over the Sports Ministry’s failure to expedite the election of office bearers to the game’s local ruling body, since taking over its governance aspect last August.

Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage suspended the registration of the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka (NFSL) in July this year, over its perceived delay to hold its annual election for the 2025-27 term and as per the amended provisions of the Sports Law.

Afterwards its administration was brought under the direct control of the Acting Director General (DG) of the Department of Sports Development V. Premachanthiran to facilitate the amending of the NFSL Constitution ahead of holding the next election.

World Netball (WN) – the sport’s global governing body officially announced early this month that five Regional Qualifiers will take place to determine 10 teams with two qualifying from each of the regions.

This was after six teams (Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, England, South Africa and Uganda) based on the top six seeding in the WN World Rankings as of 1 December and the host country, having automatically qualified for the event coming up in Down Under.

According to World Netball, the five Regional Qualifiers (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania) are to be played between 1 January to 30 September next year.

Sri Lanka, currently ranked 23 in the world and South Asia’s top seed, was placed 16th during the previous edition of the Netball World Cup held in Cape Town, South Africa.