Facilities were not available to host Americas Netball Qualifiers, says PM

Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday said the facilities were not available to host the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at Arnos Vale that were slated for October 13-23, 2026.

“The challenge was that at this stage in the game, the facilities were simply not available, and the way in which we would get them ready by that time frame, it was not possible. And so we simply took a decision that in light of the current situation and no assurance that we can deliver, that we had to do a decision early enough so that alternative arrangements could be made by those persons who are hosting” the Qualifiers, Prime Minister, Dr. Godwin Friday said at a press conference on March 3, 2026.

He was responding to a question why the decision was taken for St. Vincent and the Grenadines to withdraw from hosting the Qualifiers, and whether any prior consultation had been held with the SVG Netball Association. The prime minister said it was a very important subject matter, and pointed out that the minister of sports has been engaged in discussions on the on it, and informed him and the Cabinet.

“This is something that is a very difficult decision for us to take, because we would like to be able to host this,” Dr. Friday noted.

“ One of the things that we campaigned on in the new economy is the development of sports. There’s no point in going down into August and September and saying that, ‘sorry, we’re not able to do it’,… and that was the situation that we inherited. That is why we made the decision as early as we could, considering all the factors, all the stuff that you’ve mentioned there and the challenges,” Dr. Friday stated.

The Unity Labour Party administration had given the undertaking that it would bring the Arnos Vale venue to a state of readiness for the international series.

Among the commitments made to Netball Americas through the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Netball Association, was the identification of a supplier to provide the covered facility at the Arnos Vale site, and the hand over deadline of the $US 4.5 million project was July/August 2026.

The then administration’s written commitment is believed to have tipped the balance in favour of SVG to host the Qualifiers. In a February 5,2026 letter,Minister of Sports Kaschaka Cupid informed the Association that SVG was not proceeding as host because the venue would not be ready. Officials of the SVGNA are awaiting likely sanctions from Netball Americas which may include a fine, or suspension.

A fine would see the SVGNA’s programmes being negatively impacted, and if suspended, a core group of at least five netballers would see their careers at the national level coming to an abrupt end.

“We will assist the association to make sure that we do proper preparations to build the sport of netball, and to assist those persons whom we have identified that may be negatively affected,” Dr. Friday assured.

“ We will ensure that we do all that we can to make sure that they’re not.”