Tanzania pull out of African Netball championship

Dar es Salaam. Lack of funds has denied the Tanzania national netball team (Taifa Queens) an opportunity to compete in the African championship scheduled to start today at the University of Botswana Indoor Facility.

Tanzania was among 11 countries that confirmed participation in the competition scheduled to reach its climax on December 6.

Besides the host country, Botswana, other countries are South Africa, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Kenya, Ghana, and Burundi.

Tanzania Amateur Netball Association (Chaneta) chairperson Devotha Marwa told The Citizen yesterday that they failed to raise Sh70 million ahead of the completion.

She said that the amount was for covering expenses for 18 players and officials.

“The amount was to pay air tickets, allowances, and others. We struggled to raise the fund but we could not get enough money. We have informed the organizers of the event that we cannot compete; they haven’t yet replied to us, so we are waiting for its outcome,” said Marwa.

She said that they paid all fees as per the Confederation of African Netball Associations (CANA). “We paid $1,000 (Sh2.6 million) as the competition fees and $385 (Sh 959,415) as affiliation fees. You can see how we made efforts on the matter,” she said.

Tanzania was to compete for the third time in a row in the history of the game. They competed in their first edition, held in South Africa in 2019 and later in 2021 in Namibia.

Uganda claimed bronze behind champions South Africa and runners Malawi in 2019 (Cape Town), and in 2021 in Windhoek Namibia, they finished second as South Africa defended their title.