Malawi National Netball Team players can now afford a smile all the way to the bank after Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) paid them external travel allowances worth K30 million for participating in the 2023 Netball World Cup finals in Cape Town, South Africa.
The development comes as a relief to the Queens who normally sweat to receive their dues.
Sports Council Public Relations and Communications Officer Edgar Ntulumbwa said the amount covers external allowances but does not include game bonuses.
“We released funds amounting to K30 million covering external allowances. We promised them that their money would be ready a week after they return home and we did just that,” he said, adding that the money was deposited straight into the players’ accounts.
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Ntulumbwa said they were waiting for a report from Netball Association of Malawi (Nam) to process game bonuses.
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“We cannot issue payment without the report because it is treated as a requisition. Once Nam submits the report, we will also initiate the payment process,” he said.
Nam General Secretary Isaac Chimwala confirmed that Sports Council had indeed paid the players.
“The money was indeed paid directly into the players’ accounts,” Chimwala said.
One of Queens’ senior players also confirmed receiving the money.
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“The money was indeed paid into our accounts, so all is well for now. It is our hope now that Nam will quickly prepare the report so that Sports Council pays us all our dues,” the player said.
The Queens had an unsuccessful campaign at the global showpiece where they finished seventh.
This was their worst finish in 20 years, having been stuck on position six after similar competitions in 2011, 2015 and 2019.
Malawi achieved their best ever finish in 2007 when they ended fifth after making their debut in world netball in 1995.
In that year’s tournament, they ended on position eight before falling to 11th in 1999.
Malawi’s free fall continued in 2003 when they failed to qualify for the global championship.
But they returned with a bang four years later to achieve their best finish.
Despite featuring a star-studded line-up in attack, the Queens lacked balance and struggled against lowly ranked sides such as seventh-placed Tonga Nation, 19th ranked Fiji and Scotland, who are ranked 10th.
At the tournament, which was the first ever in Africa, the Queens defeated Scotland 62- 39, Barbados 84-48, Fiji 62-48 and twice beat Tonga 56-51 and 64-54.
However, Malawi suffered three defeats when they went down to England 62-39, Australia 70-46 and Uganda 57-46.
