By Chisomo Phiri
The Malawi National Netball Team,the Queens are pushing government to consider a significant increase in their domestic and international allowances.
Speaking on behalf of the Malawi Queens on Wednesday, vice captain Jane Chimaliro said as a team, they have asked government through Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire to review their allowance packages in order for Queens to be able to meet the material needs.
Chimaliro indicated that the current allowance packages have not been reviewed for close to a decade.
‘We train three times a day and we get a meager K5000 as training allowance. We have responsibilities at home. But we come here because this is national duty.
“We ask you to convey our request to the president. International allowance is at US60 dollars and has remained at that for close to a decade,” she said.
Chimaliro further raised concerns of the concrete surface of the court at Bingu National Stadium (BNS) saying it is not conducive for netball.
“The surface of the venues at the World Cup is asphalt while here we are training on a concrete surface. We are already disadvantaged. We ask you to complete the Griffin Saenda Complex,” she said.
Malawi Netball Team is one of the best performing Netball teams in the world.
For instance, in 2014,the Queens were one of the highest scorers in Glasgow scoring 352 goals.
