(Reuters) - Netball Australia (NA) CEO Kelly Ryan resigned on Tuesday after the governing body reached an in-principle agreement with players in the professional Super Netball league to end a months-long pay dispute.
Ryan's departure comes after NA and the players' union agreed on a Collective Player Agreement (CPA) deal that runs until September 2026.
"Having reached an in-principle agreement on the CPA pay deal, and watched with pride as our Diamonds won the Commonwealth Games and the Netball World Cup, the timing felt right to hand over the reins to a new leader," Ryan said in a statement.
Super Netball players had been effectively unemployed since September when the last agreement expired.
The new pay deal includes an 11% increase in players' base salaries over three years and a 3% private health insurance contribution among other increased benefits, according to Australian media reports.
The Australian government warned NA last month that it would withhold A$18 million in funding due to not receiving a "sufficiently robust business case".
Ryan said the governing body had weathered several storms since she took charge in mid-2021.
"We overcame the challenges of coronavirus pandemic to continue a national competition through border closures, experienced strong growth in the national competition ... and strengthened the games’ finances," she added.
Stacey West, NA's executive general manager performance, has been appointed acting CEO.
The netballers' push for better pay had been backed by the national women's soccer team, as well as Australia's cricketers, who pledged a "fighting fund" to support them.
Australian Netball Players Association chief executive Kathryn Harby-Williams said players had been sleeping in cars and had moved back in with their families to make ends meet during the stand-off.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
