The three-Test netball series between South Africa and Malawi was officially called off on Wednesday morning, after the failure of Malawi to arrive in South Africa.

Netball South Africa (NSA) President Mimi Mthethwa said she had still not heard from the President of Malawi netball, and had decided to cancel the series because of the high costs involved.

The Malawi team was scheduled to arrive in South Africa on Monday night, but the players failed to board the aircraft.

“We had confirmation from them that they had received their tickets on March 26 and it appeared to be all systems go,” she said.

NSA had agreed to bear all the costs of the series, including flights, accommodation, spending money and incentives.

Mthethwa said she would be making an official complaint to the International Federation of Netball Associations (Ifna) about Malawi¹s non-arrival.

Proteas coach Carin Strauss said she had no words to describe the disappointment of the players.

“They were really pumped up for the series,” she said. “But now we will just focus on preparing for our trip to New Zealand, where we will play some of the top league teams, and then we go to Samoa for a two-Test series.

“We will put this disappointment behind us. What happened here will be part of Malawi¹s bad history, not ours.”

Spar netball sponsorship manager Belinda Nel said the events of the past two days would not affect the sponsor¹s relationship with NSA.

“We are very said for them and for the team,” she said. “They worked so hard to arrange this series. We support them 100 per cent, and will continue to support them.”

Mthethwa and Nel said they would try to recoup some of the costs, amounting to about R500 000, from Malawi.