World Netball (WN) and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) have announced the final six Commonwealth Games Association’s (CGA’s) that will participate in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Uganda, Scotland, Wales, Trinidad and Tobago, Northern Ireland and Barbados were officially invited by the CGF at the end of February with all six teams accepting the invitation.
The final CGA’s qualified for the event according to their WN World Ranking on the 31st January 2022. This extended qualification date was decided upon by WN and the CGF in March 2021 due to the impact of COVID-19 on the international netball events calendar. This allowed additional time for international fixtures to be played before the 2022 domestic season begun.
During this qualification period, Uganda moved up to 6th place, above already qualified Malawi. Scotland, Wales, Trinidad and Tobago and Northern Ireland then qualified due to being ranked 8-11, whilst Barbados qualified despite being in 13th place because 12th placed Zimbabwe is not a Member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The newly announced teams join Australia, New Zealand, England, Jamaica, South Africa and Malawi, who were announced as the first six qualifiers in October 2021 according to their ranking positions as of the 21st July 2021.
World Netball President, Liz Nicholl CBE, commented: “Congratulations to the final six Commonwealth Games Associations on securing their place at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games is always a highlight in the netball calendar for the players, officials and netball family, and with this exciting lineup I am sure Birmingham will live up to that expectation.
“Looking forward to 2026 we are thrilled that the Commonwealth Games Federation has entered an exclusive dialogue period with the State of Victoria in Australia and Commonwealth Games Australia (CGAus) about hosting the next Games. With netball’s popularity in Australia, it is a great prospect for netball’s inclusion in the Games. I have no doubt Birmingham 2022 will help showcase the Commonwealth’s netball talent and popularity. Good luck to all teams involved, I look forward to seeing you and our netball family in Birmingham later this year.”
CGF President Dame Louise Martin said: “I am delighted to confirm a world class netball line-up for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. We are set for a spectacular competition at the National Exhibition Centre. I know that World Netball and the inspirational athletes across 12 teams hope they will be the stars of the show again in Birmingham, as they were at Gold Coast 2018. On behalf of the Commonwealth Games Federation, I would like to congratulate the final six teams who have secured their spot at Birmingham 2022, and we look forward to welcoming you all to the Games.”
Matt Kidson, Director of Sport for Birmingham 2022, said: “It’s fantastic that we now know the final line-up of netball teams for Birmingham 2022. Netball tickets for the Games have already been selling very well, with tickets for ten sessions, including the medal matches, semi-finals and all of the England matches currently unavailable. Now that we can complete the match schedule, I’m sure the remaining tickets will prove to be very popular.”
