Sri Lanka withdraws from inaugural Asian men’s netball

By Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka will not field a team for the upcoming Inaugural Asian Men’s Netball Championship, the Sri Lanka Netball Federation (SLNF) has confirmed.

The historic tournament is scheduled to be held in New Delhi, India, from February 5 to 12. 

In a landmark decision for the sport, Netball Asia (NA) decided that the first-ever Men’s Asian Netball Championship will be staged in 2026, marking a major milestone in the development of men’s netball in the region.

Despite strong expectations from the tournament organisers—Netball Asia and the Indian Netball Federation—that Sri Lanka would participate, the SLNF has opted out of the event. The decision was taken due to the federation’s administrative challenges, as the SLNF had remained largely inactive for more than two years.

Although the current administration has only recently been restored to normal operations, officials stated that there has not been sufficient time or groundwork to prepare and field a competitive national men’s team for an international tournament of this scale. 

As a result, Sri Lanka’s participation in the inaugural championship has been withdrawn.