Major sponsor pulls out of Netball World Cup after failed negotiations
A detail in the Diamonds’ World Cup launch has exposed a detail that has cost netball heavily just a fortnight out from the tournament.
The Netball World Cup has suffered a massive hit only a fortnight from the first game, with title sponsor Vitality pulling out of the tournament.
VitalityHealth is a private health insurer, and held naming rights to the Cape Town edition of the tournament, but following failed negotiations, have now withdrawn their name, leading to promotional shoots needing last-minute fixes.
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“It was our intention to be the title sponsor of the Netball World Cup 2023,” parent company Discovery said in a statement.
“Regrettably, following negotiation, we were unable to reach a mutually agreeable partnership.
“Discovery is therefore focusing its support for netball on the national teams in South Africa and England, namely the Proteas and the Vitality Roses.
“Discovery is committed to female sport in South Africa and abroad, and to netball.”
Promotional photo shoots for the Diamonds’ dress unveiling earlier this week had tape over the Vitality logos that were originally on the dresses, and the original logo shows through in some imagery.
South African telco Telkom and retail giant Spar will now replace VitalityHealth as the major sponsors of the World Cup.
It comes after Australian netballers and the governing body called a temporary truce in an ongoing pay dispute leading into the tournament.
Netball Australia withheld the naming of the squad until a collective bargaining agreement was signed, and was criticised by the players’ association for doing so, being urged to “decouple national selection from industrial negotiations”.
A temporary deal was put in place for the World Cup, an extension of current playing terms for the sake of certainty for the squad that was named for South Africa.
“We have come to an agreement with the ANPA to provide certainty to the playing group and we’re looking forward to supporting the team throughout the 2023 Netball World Cup,” Netball Australia boss Kelly Ryan said in a statement at the time.
The World Cup gets underway on July 28 with Australia in a pool with Zimbabwe, Tonga and Fiji.
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