First Lady Gertrude Mutharika has donated K10 million to Malawi women’s and men’s national netball teams.
She made the donation yesterday when she attended Queens and Kings training sessions at the Griffin Saenda Indoor Sports Complex in Lilongwe where they are preparing for the 2025 Africa Netball Cup which Malawi will host from December 8 to 14.
Addressing the players after watching their training sessions, Mutharika said she is committed to seeing Malawi do well in the continental tournament
She said: “The donation is one way of motivating you to do well and win the tournament. The K5 million is for our Queens whereas the other K5 million is for Kings. We have also brought you refreshments so that after the training, you can have something to cool you down.”
An avid netball fan, the First Lady also took time to showcase her netball skills on the court, throwing some impressive scores.
Malawi last hosted the tournament in 2012 and the Queens went on to win the championship.
In a related development, Zambia women and men’s national teams have withdrawn from the tournament.
In a statement, Netball Zambia yesterday cited financial constraints as the main reason for pulling out of the continental showpiece.
Speaking on the development, Netball Zambia general secretary Pritchard Ngoma expressed deep regret.
The statement quoted him: “We have done everything within our means to mobilise resources but we can no longer hold on in the hope of a last-minute sponsor at this advanced stage, as doing so risks exposing the association to penalties.”
The developement means 10 teams, namely South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Tanzania, Namibia, Lesotho and hosts Malawi will now compete in the tournament.
The tournament’s local organising committee chairperson Limbani Matola yesterday said it is regrettable to see Zambia pulling out.
However, he said this will not affect the tournament.
“It is unfortunate that we will not have Zambia in the tournament, but netball lovers should relax because this will not have any negative impact on the event,” he said.
