Rock of Gibraltar blocks Sri Lanka at Netball Youth World Cup

By Susil Premalal

The Sri Lanka Under-21 youth netball team has been unable to participate in today’s opening match against England at the Netball World Youth Cup (NWYC) due to visa issues.

It is understood that team did not submit visa applications to the British High Commission in Sri Lanka in time and as of yesterday (September 19) afternoon, the necessary visas had not been issued. 

As a result, it remained uncertain until yesterday afternoon whether the Sri Lankan team would be able to travel and participate in the competition.

The NWYC 2025 tournament is being held in Gibraltar, England, from September 19 to 28, featuring teams from 20 countries. Sri Lanka had qualified for the event after finishing third at the 2023 Asian Youth Netball Championship in South Korea. Malaysia, the tournament winner and Singapore, the runner-up, had already travelled to Gibraltar several days earlier.

Due to the visa delay, the Sri Lankan team was also unable to attend the opening ceremony in Gibraltar yesterday.

For the preliminary round, teams are divided into four groups, with Sri Lanka placed in Group C alongside England, Wales, Jamaica and Tonga. After England, Sri Lanka is scheduled to play Wales on September 21, Jamaica on September 22 and Tonga on September 24 under a round-robin format.

World Netball confirmed that the Sri Lanka team has not officially notified the World Youth Netball Competition Committee of the visa delay. The Ministry of Sports had already allocated a significant budget for accommodation and catering for the Sri Lankan team’s stay.

Since Sri Lanka’s netball administration has been inactive for nearly a year, the Ministry of Sports and the Sports Development Department have been managing essential administrative functions. The delay in selecting eligible players, as well as delays in appointing the coach and manager, resulted in a late visa application, placing the team’s travel plans in an uncertain position.

Although the team had qualified two years ago, the final squad was only selected following an irregular selection trial in Colombo on August 19. In addition, every international tour requires National Selection Committee (NSC) approval, which was not obtained for this youth team. NSC Chairperson Sriyani Kulawansa stated that several required documents for approval were incomplete, and despite requests for completion, no response was received.