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Paul McNamara

When he began banging the drum for the football World Cup to be staged every two years, Arsene Wenger was taken aback by the “emotional” response to his proposal.
The chief of global football development for Fifa, Wenger was rounded on by fans’ groups, coaches and European governing body Uefa, whose president, Aleksander Ceferin, related “grave concerns” over a plan that risked “diluting” the competition.
Noises over holding a biennial finals have quietened amid a shift to vaster, overblown World Cups, with a very real possibility that 64 teams could play in the 2030 edition.
Still, the monolithic football beast time and again proves that it can withstand the worst excesses of its more grasping administrators. Other less popular sports are condemned to existing in existential crises.
In its quest to futureproof a sport that inhabits an “increasingly complex landscape”, netball borrowed from Wenger’s playbook and has chosen to stage a World Cup every two years instead of every four from 2027.
On the face of it, World Netball’s decision has its merits. The Commonwealth Games, which every four years provides the platform for one of netball’s marquee tournaments, is seemingly withering on the vine, while the sport is engaged in an ongoing battle for Olympic Games inclusion.

“These decisions allow us to control our destiny, and it’s positive news for everyone,” Fiona Harold, the World Netball CEO, said following last year’s announcement. “As the international federation, it is our job to sustain and grow the game over the long term.”
Nonetheless, there are respected netball folk who believe overexposing the sport’s flagship product is short-sighted, threatens to create a closed shop of elite teams, and is reflective of administrators who are asleep at the wheel.
Hong Kong will end a 24-year wait to compete in the global tournament next year, after reaching the final of their home Asian Championships this month.
There are fears inside the local association over familiarity breeding contempt, according to sources, and those are shared elsewhere.
Alison Akinrinlola is an expert on all things netball, a sport she calls a “sleeping giant”.
A former England player, she was the brains behind Netball Aid, the charity match set for its second edition this year after attracting more than 5,000 fans and generating 6 million social media views for its 2025 launch.
In 2024, Akinrinlola co-founded Birmingham Panthers, the franchise in England’s Netball Super League that last year sold a significant stake to Knighthead Capital Management, the billionaire firm that, along with American Football great Tom Brady, owns Birmingham City Football Club.
More recently, Akinrinlola was appointed head coach of Nigeria, after the African country relaunched its national team with a view to claiming a podium finish at the 2030 Commonwealth Games.
“The finances don’t exist for a World Cup every two years,” Akinrinlola told the South China Morning Post. “Without big sponsors, Nigeria can’t afford to go to a World Cup every two years. Teams will drop out, and you’ll end up making it more exclusive.”
Concerns abound at the sport’s summit, too. With twin daughters, Tori and Mali, who last year played for Jamaica in the Netball World Youth Cup, Akinrinlola is aware that the world’s No 4 nation is financially stretched.
“They’re trying to get the funds together for the Horizon Series [in England in November], after being in Scotland for the Commonwealth Games [where they claimed silver], and there’s a World Cup next year,” Akinrinlola said.

“I know the struggles that are there. A World Cup every four years gives you time to plan, prepare and save.”
Hong Kong typically have to scratch around for competitive matches, given the sport’s puzzling absence from the Asian Games, and the city team’s ineligibility for the Commonwealth Games and Southeast Asian Games.
With minimal help from elsewhere, Hong Kong, China Netball got proactive in initiating the East Asian Cup last year, while a camp in Perth allowed players concerted preparation for the recent Asian Championships, where a thrilling semi-final victory over Malaysia sealed that World Cup passage.
“We felt privileged to have that opportunity, in Perth,” key player Zenia Wong said. “We usually juggle so much, but it was just netball. The competition was on a different level and we learned how to recover and play day in, day out.”
Hong Kong’s recent success has already engendered a demonstrable uptick in netball interest in the city. For next month’s two-day Netfest event, the curtain raiser for the new campaign, 50 junior teams have already registered, compared with the 25 that competed 12 months ago.
“Netball’s a sleeping giant,” Akinrinlola said. “If I were in charge of World Netball, I’d be asking, ‘what do you need to get netball off the ground in Nigeria [and other smaller nations]?’. Give us courts, posts and equipment, then everything else will fall into place.”
Also the founder of AP Saints, who are in the English third tier and boast a comprehensive youth programme, after beginning with seven girls 17 years ago, Akinrinlola staged Netball Aid at seven weeks’ notice last year. Featuring a number of celebrities in the image of Soccer Aid, including one unnamed star she said would single-handedly sell out Birmingham’s 15,600-capacity Utilita Arena, it will return in November.
Along with needing intangible qualities such as bravery and passion, converting netball’s huge participation numbers into fandom and commercial growth required “getting in front of people so they buy into your vision”, Akinrinlola said.
“I’ve always been more successful speaking to people,” she said.
“Netball is a long-term investment; we’re not quite there yet, because we haven’t got the right people behind the sport.
“We need commercial people in those governing bodies. We need people in the governing bodies who love people.”


Netball’s first failed attempt to join the Olympic movement came way back in 1967. It is pushing hard to be included in Brisbane in 2032, and by the end of last year, World Netball’s “Back the Bid” petition had gathered more than 115,000 signatures.
Nonetheless, Akinrinlola feels the sport is still not sufficiently inclusive, given its low profile in English state schools. In Hong Kong, netball is prominent in English Schools Foundation institutions and international schools, but is included on the PE curriculums of only around 20 local primary and secondary schools
More positively, Akinrinlola believes the introduction of a men’s netball World Cup from 2029 will aid the sport’s Olympic quest.
“I don’t know if getting into the Olympics will make a difference to the grass roots,” Akinrinlola said. “Right now, there’s not enough of a foundation for netball to build on to where we want it to go. I think that goes back to who’s playing, and it not being inclusive enough.”


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Sport

Hong Kong

Hong Kong set to end 24-year wait to compete in global tournament but some in sport fear overexposure will water down flagship product


Hong Kong set to end 24-year wait to compete in global tournament but some in sport fear overexposure will water down flagship product.


Hong Kong Netball Association

Fifa was bashed for 2-year World Cup idea but could it solve netball’s existential crisis?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hong Kong set to end 24-year wait to compete in global tournament but some in sport fear overexposure will water down flagship product

Hong Kong set to end 24-year wait to compete in global tournament but some in sport fear overexposure will water down flagship product