World Netball (WN) and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) have announced the first six Commonwealth Games Association’s (CGA’s) that will participate in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The host nation, England, automatically qualified along with the top 5 CGA’s in the WN World Rankings as of the 28th of July 2021 – Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, South Africa, and Malawi.
A total of 12 teams will compete at the games, with the remaining six still to be decided.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international event calendar the CGF and WN agreed to extend the qualification date for netball at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to 31st January 2022.
This means that teams can continue to play for ranking points up until the 31st January 2022, and the CGA’s ranked 7th-12th at this cut-off date according to the WN World Rankings will then be invited in February 2022 to participate in Birmingham.
World Netball President, Liz Nicholl CBE, commented: “Congratulations to the top six teams in the WN World Rankings on securing their place at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“World Netball will continue to work closely with the CGF and the CGA’s on the announcement of the remaining six teams.
“I look forward to seeing all 12 teams compete on this world stage in Birmingham next year and watching the athletes embrace this opportunity to compete at this important multi-sport event.”
CGF President, Dame Louise Martin, also offered her congratulations to the top six qualifying CGA’s, and added: “We are already shaping up for an exciting competition.
“Netball was one of the highlights of Gold Coast 2018.
“That unforgettable final between Australia and England will always be remembered as one of the iconic moments in Commonwealth Games history.
“There is no doubt that we can expect more excitement and entertainment at Birmingham 2022, in front of passionate fans.”
Director of Sport for Birmingham 2022, Matt Kidson, encouraged the Netball Family to prepare for the general ticket sale for the event, he said: “It’s fantastic news that the first six qualifiers for the netball competition have been confirmed and we are very much looking forward to welcoming these teams to Birmingham next summer.
“The netball competition will be held at the NEC Arena, which is an impressive venue and through our recent ticket ballots we have already seen that this sport will once again attract thousands of passionate fans.
“Our tickets will go on general sale very soon and we will shortly be announcing the match schedule for netball, so I’d urge netball fans to sign up for updates now on the Birmingham 2022 website, so that they don’t miss out on what is set to be yet another incredible Commonwealth Games netball competition.”
To find out more about netball tickets for B2022, and to set up your ticketing account, click here.
To read the full press release, please click here.
