Telkom, Spar on board for Netball World Cup

SA, NZ, Australia and England series a test run

Athenkosi Tsotsi Sports Reporter
SPAR Protea netball captain Bongi Msomi with the NWC 2023 mascot, Letsatsi during the Netball World Cup 2023 media announcement at Southern Sun Rosebank on November 28, 2022 in Johannesburg.
SPAR Protea netball captain Bongi Msomi with the NWC 2023 mascot, Letsatsi during the Netball World Cup 2023 media announcement at Southern Sun Rosebank on November 28, 2022 in Johannesburg.
Image: Reg Caldecott

The Netball World Cup (NWC) 2023 organising committee (OC) has roped in Telkom and Spar as the tournaments premium sponsors on the eve of the draw for the cups pools in East London.

The World Cup, which will be hosted in Cape Town from July 28 to August 6, will be the first Netball World Cup on the African continent. Sixteen teams will be taking part in the tournament, and the draw for the pools will be held tomorrow in East London.

In March, the OC announced that SuperSport and the SABC would be the broadcast sponsors.

The announcement of Telkom and Spar as tier-one sponsors means the OC will be able to push through with its programmes with the substantial budget provided by the two partners.

NWC 2023 chairperson Patience Shikwambana elaborated on the importance of Telkom and Spar coming on board.

We are proud, as the OC, of the funding we are getting from our partners. This is the womens sporting event. We are calling on more sponsors, said Shikwambana during the announcement of the partnership at the Southern Sun in Rosebank

They are going to help us in terms of our budget. We have the responsibility to account for and maintain integrity. With this announcement today, we hope more sponsors will come on board.

After this world cup, netball must not be in the same place. This is also part of the legacy programmes.

Shikwambana revealed that World Netball would also be adding international sponsors. Regarding the state of readiness, she said that they would use Januarys Quad series between SA, New Zealand, Australia and England as a test run. 

We started slow because of the Covid-19 pandemic. I can safely say there is progress. On Wednesday theres a draw and on Friday theres a facility well open in Cape Town as part of the legacy. In December we have the ticket sales go live and then the Quad series, which will test our systems, she said. 

Tickets for the world cup go on sale next month. Shikwambana said the cheapest ticket is R500. She said they would look to accommodate those who cant afford it. 

The lowest fare for our tickets is R500 in terms of being part of the world cup. I know the issue has been raised on how we are going to accommodate those who cant afford it. One of the key things we need to do from our side is we need to engage at a local level.

"We all know the issue of poverty. We are looking at how we are going to get more of our people at those events next year, said Shikwambana

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