Netball Australia CEO resigns after pay agreement

Australia beat England to win a 12th World Cup in August

Netball Australia (NA) chief executive Kelly Ryan has resigned days after the governing body reached an agreement in principle to end a lengthy pay dispute.

Former Diamonds captain Kathryn Harby-Williams said some players had "slept in their cars" because of the hardship caused by the dispute.

Ryan said "the timing felt right to hand over the reins to a new leader".

"During my time as CEO I have delivered on the objectives of the Board," she added. "We overcame the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic to continue a national competition through border closures, experienced strong growth in the national competition, grew netball's already strong participation numbers, and strengthened the game's finances."

Stacey West, NA's executive general manager for performance, has been appointed acting chief executive.

Under the deal agreed earlier this month, players will receive an 11% pay rise and a greater share of competition revenue.

Australia are the dominant force in world netball, with a record 12 World Cups and four Commonwealth gold medals, while their domestic league attracts the best players as the only fully professional league in the world.

However, the pay dispute has meant Super Netball franchises have been unable to contract players, meaning no teams in the league have announced their squads for the 2024 season, which starts in April.

NA also missed out on 18m Australian dollars (£9.42m) in public funding last month after the Australian government said it had not received a satisfactory business case for the money.

In October, mining company Hancock Prospecting pulled a sponsorship deal with NA worth A$15m (£7.85m). It followed Donnell Wallam, the Australia squad's only Aboriginal player, privately raising concerns about the company's Indigenous record.

Tourism company Visit Victoria stepped in as sponsor, replacing the lost funds, but NA announced earlier this year it is A$4.2m (£2.2m) in debt, having been unable to fully recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

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