Cana to make decision on Netball World Youth Cup qualifiers

Confederation of African Netball Associations (Cana) will make a decision on whether Africa’s qualifiers for the Netball World Youth Cup will go on as planned, based on developments on the coronavirus pandemic. PHOTO | POOL |

What you need to know:

  • The qualifiers have been scheduled for May 4 to 10 in Uganda, while the Netball World Youth Cup will take place in Fiji in June 2021.
  • Only the top four teams qualify for the global competition held after every four years.

Confederation of African Netball Associations (Cana) will make a decision on whether Africa’s qualifiers for the Netball World Youth Cup will go on as planned, based on developments on the coronavirus pandemic.

Cana on Monday said in a statement that before making that decision, it will consider recommendations by World Health Organisation, International Netball Federation INF and countries affiliated to the association.

The qualifiers have been scheduled for May 4 to 10 in Uganda, while the Netball World Youth Cup will take place in Fiji in June 2021.

Only the top four teams qualify for the global competition held after every four years.

“AN’s concern at this challenging time is to proactively safeguard the health of all event participants and the public health in general,” read part of the statement.

It said that the Local Organising Committee will continue planning for the qualifiers and that an update on the event will be issued in six weeks’ time.

Last weekend, the Kenya Netball Federation (KNF) was forced to call-off the selection of the team to represent the country in the qualifiers, after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the country.

KNF Secretary General Millicent Busolo said new dates will be issued on when the team’s selection will take place after the pandemic has been contained.

Should Kenya qualify for the 2021 Netball World Youth Cup, it will be the first time the country is featuring in the global event.

The competition was previously known as World Youth Netball Championships and Botswana hosted the last event that took place in 2017.

It featured 20 countries, with New Zealand emerging champions, while Australia were the runners-up.

Busolo said with adequate training and support, Kenya can for the first time qualify for the World Youth Netball Championships. Globally, Kenya is currently ranked at position 39.