Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has joined over 600,000 people to offer her support for netball’s inclusion in the Olympic Games.
The Daily Express reports Blair saying, “our female athletes did so well in Beijing, yet there is still an imbalance in the number of medal opportunities for men and women. Netball is the most popular sport in the world for women, and including it in the Olympics would send out a strong message that there are as many chances for women as men to compete at the highest level in team sports.
“It would also raise the profile of the games and provide role models to encourage more people to take up the sport as part of a healthy lifestyle.”
She added, “with over 3,000 clubs across the country and one million players a week in the UK, there is certainly a large pool of talent out there to find more Olympic champions”.
According to the Daily Express, the Co-operative, sponsors of the Netball Superleague, recently carried out a survey in 2,000 food stores across the country using a simple ‘Chip and Pin’ question. About 587,705 people registered their support for netball to be included in the Olympics, double the level of support when a similar survey was carried out in the summer.
Support for the campaign has now reached more than 600,000 people. The Daily Express reports that despite its popularity, and being a regular sport in the Commonwealth Games, Netball has never been featured in the Olympics.
