INF determined to develop Malawi top netball umpires
The International Netball Federation (INF) says it is determined to ensure that Malawi’s status as the continent’s number one netball country also translates to the standard of umpires.
INF international umpiring manager Christina Davidson made the assurance when The Nation contacted her over the selection criteria for the 2015 World Netball Cup officiating panel, which has excluded Malawians.
She said qualified umpires applied for consideration with the INF Netball World Cup Umpire Selection Panel making the appointments in consultation with International Testing Panel (ITP) members. The world cup will be staged in Australia next month.
“The main basis for appointment was umpiring competency and relevant experience, although some consideration was also given to the distribution of umpires so that neutral umpires could be allocated to games,” Davidson said in a response to a questionnaire.
“As Malawi currently has no suitably qualified officials, no applications were received. However, the INF is working on improving skills with Africa Netball and other INF Regional Federations to enable applications to be made in the future.”
Netball Association of Malawi vice president ChimwemweKachingwe last week admitted that the country’s umpires were yet to attain qualifications required for them to handle matches at the world stage.
Local umpires such as Whyte Mlilima are able to officiate regional championships. Kachingwe said NAM had initiatives to ensure the local umpires develop to world level.
