Netball Australia slammed over World Cup debacle amid standoff

Netball Australia has been fiercely criticised by Diamonds players over their refusal to name the Australian team for the upcoming World Cup until negotiations on a new pay agreement with players have been completed. The governing body has been accused by former Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander of holding players 'to ransom' over their stance, which risks missing a deadline for teams to be submitted for the tournament, which begins on July 28 in South Africa.

The Australian Netball Players Association and Netball Australia stand firmly at odds over the new collective bargaining agreement, with the latter refusing to release the national team until the CBA is signed off. The players union is calling on Netball Australia to decouple national team selections from the bargaining process.

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The move to withhold national team announcements has infuriated the ANPA, who have also rejected a claim from Netball Australia that negotiations have been ongoing for 12 months. NA chief executive Kelly Ryan said earlier in the week that the latest offer to players had been tabled on May 18, with no response received as yet.

The decision to withhold national selections has left players in a state of 'confusion, anger and sadness' according to the ANPA, in a post made on Wednesday evening. Netball Australia has maintained the revenue share players are after is not viable, as debts totalling roughly $4.2 million dollars continue to hamper the governing body.

“The players unanimously agreed to invite NA to decouple national selection from industrial negotiations and, in the name of wellbeing, advise all players who has been selected for the Diamonds 2023 World Cup squad,” the ANPA wrote. “The players make these requests to preserve the sanctity of the Australian uniform, to support the wellbeing of players and in support of good faith negotiations and not bad faith negotiations.”

Netball Australia accused of holding national team 'to ransom'

In an interview with SEN, former Diamonds coach Alexander labelled the actions of Netball Australia 'outrageous' and backed the players in their bid to remove the national team from the equation for the time being.

“At the end of the day, the players shouldn’t be held to ransom over this,” Alexander said. "This is outrageous behaviour, in my opinion, from Netball Australia.

“They (Netball Australia) can use their power, but then the players have a right also to state they’re not happy with it.”

Ryan had earlier said Netball Australia cannot name a national side for the World Cup until contracts have been signed. The ANPA has labelled that position dubious and called for the Diamonds and potential national representative to be treated with more respect.

“We are understanding of the impact this has on the players and I spoke to them all on Monday night to reassure them everyone is working to finalise negotiations,” Ryan said. “We are fully invested in doing all we can to support the players now and through the 2023 Netball World Cup – a significant moment for all who represent their country.

“Netball Australia must uphold good governance standards and cannot commit to selecting players or announcing a squad before contracts are signed.”

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