United Kingdom (UK) top-flight netball club Leeds Rhinos has appealed to Netball Super League after being denied victory following controversy surrounding their Malawian shooter Joyce Mvula’s goal.
According to www.skysports.com, Mvula scored a two-point ‘super shot’ for Rhinos against Birmingham Panthers on Sunday but it was only registered as one point in a controversial end to their match.
Rhinos believe that if Mvula’s ‘super shot’ was recorded as two points, they could have won the match 60-59 in normal time. However, the game ended 59-59 in regulation time before Birmingham eventually triumphed 71-69 after extra-time.
“Replays clearly show Mvula in the ‘super shot’ area when she released the ball, but only one point was added to the score at the University of Birmingham Arena,” the website reported.
In a statement, Rhinos have contested the full-time result in an appeal to the Netball Super League.
The statement reads: “Leeds Rhinos have submitted an appeal to the Netball Super League committee to appeal the result of their round 8 fixture against Birmingham Panthers.
“The appeal is based on the circumstances in which the game ended in regular time. We are awaiting a response from the competition committee.”
In a separate report, www.skysports.com said that Rhinos star Geva Mentor said the incident called the integrity of netball in the UK into question, while former Wales international and Sky Sports commentator Nia Jones said it was potentially the most controversial game in Netball Super League history.
“I said on air it was one of the craziest netball matches I’ve ever seen and, having watched it back, I stand by that,” Jones told Sky Sports News. “It had a huge impact on the overall outcome of the game and everybody can see now that Rhinos were the rightful winners.
“It is the most controversial game we’ve seen this season, maybe ever in the Netball Super League. It will be interesting to see what the league does about this.”
On the possibility of Netball Super League could overturn the result, Jones said: “It would open a real can of worms. We haven’t got any type of review process for decisions like this.
“For Geva Mentor to come out and question the integrity of sport in the UK, the Netball Super League and England Netball have to do something. No player should slog their hearts out for an hour and not score at the end of the game.”
Rhinos are second from the bottom of the eight-team log-table with eight points from eight games. If they win the appeal, they could move a step up to sixth place. London Pulse leads the pack on 21 points.
Mvula is fourth on the scorers’ chart with 238 goals, 16 behind the leading scorer Rolene Streutker of Nottingham Forest.
