FDH Bank plc says it has not abandoned its obligation to bankroll the National Netball Cup, whose inaugural edition is expected to roll out this year.

The bank’s senior marketing manager Ronald Chimchere said this when asked about the future of the event, considering that the tournament’s three-year contract is expected to expire this year, yet no single tournament has been played so far.

The inaugural contest, which will be the first national netball tournament in the country in years, was initially scheduled to throw off in 2020.

FDH Bank plc signed a K360 million three-year contract with Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) in 2019 with K15 million annual allocation to the national netball tournament. The Malawi Queens were allocated K100 million per year while NAM got K5 million per annum for administration.

The Queens players pose during FDH Bank Netball Cup unveiling

“We are committed to bankrolling the netball tournament only that there were some hindrances along the way including the recent sports restrictions due to Covid-19. It is our wish to see the competition roll into action,” Chimchere said.

However, he could not clarify on whether the development means the competition will continue to be carried out beyond the expiry of the current three-year deal at the end of this year considering that the contract is about to elapsed without netball cup action on the ground so far.

“We will soon discuss with NAM on modalities. As you know, Covid-19 affected the logistics of the competition and we have to sit down and thoroughly discuss how we can handle the situation.”

But how possible was that the inaugural FDH Bank Football Cup, whose sponsorship was unveiled almost within the same period, was conducted last year with Silver Strikers emerging as champions following 2-0 victory over Ekwendeni Hammers in the final but the netball event is yet to see the light of the day?

Chimchere agreed with NAM general secretary Isaac Chimwala that the Queens’ busy schedule was one of the main reasons.

“At the time we were planning to roll out the tournament, the FDH Bank sponsorship management team, which was also expected to handle the netball competition, was in the thick of things organisation the football tournament,” Chimwala said.

“After the football tournament, we could not have the national netball championship as the Malawi Queens travelled to Namibia for the Pent Series and the African Netball Championship around November.”

Chimwala said they are keeping fingers crossed that they will agree with the sponsors on the way forward.

Netball clubs have since appealed for the rolling out of the national tournament as early possible to bridge the gap created by the scarcity of netball competitions in the country.

“It is our wish that we throw off the FDH Bank National Netball Cup as the new season starts this April so that it can act as a good tune up for imminent International competitions such as the Commonwealth Games,” said Prophet Mbewe Sisters (formerly Serenity Sisters) chairperson Dalitso Chinyama.

“Our national team cannot do well if the players are idle as at present. We need the national tournament as soon as possible,” she said.

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