The International Federation of Netball Associations has set a deadline of Friday to hear back from countries considering hosting next year's world championships.
However, IFNA vice-president Kereyn Smith said a decision on where the event is staged might not be made by then.
Smith said four countries --
Jamaica, England, New Zealand and Australia -- had expressed interest in the sense that they had asked for further information.
"We then asked them to come back in a time and fashion that would enable us to consider what they had to offer before Christmas," she said.
"They are in the process of doing so and I would expect that process to be completed in the next day or so.
"The aim is to make at least an update prior to Christmas. Whether we can make a decision before Christmas, we're not too sure."
IFNA stripped Fiji of hosting rights two weeks ago in the wake of the military coup in the Pacific island nation.
The four countries which have expressed interest in possibly stepping in have held the past four world tournaments, with Jamaica (2003) and New Zealand (1999) being the most recent.
Smith said IFNA's preference was for the next championships to be staged as close as possible to the original scheduled month of next July.
But it also accepted that such a timetable might be too tight.
If the event had to be postponed, later in 2007 was preferred to 2008, which was Olympic year and also posed other issues, Smith said.
"At this stage, what we are most interested in is hosting a professional championships as near to the scheduled date as possible."
- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB
