SQUASH Beyond Olympics

• Squash missed out on inclusion for the Tokyo 2020 Games this week
• Pound disappointed at news that five other disciplines to be added

 Dick Pound, the former IOC vice-president, said squash meets all the requirements necessary for an Olympic sport.
The Professional Squash Association has issued an upbeat assessment of its future despite the sport’s latest Olympic snub.

Squash missed out on inclusion for the Tokyo 2020 Games on Wednesday as the International Olympic Committee voted to add five new sports to the programme. It is the latest in a series of knock-backs for the authorities and players of the racket sport, who have long campaigned for Olympic status.

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Alex Gough, chief executive of the PSA, said: “The Olympic Games should be the pinnacle of any athlete’s career and inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Games would have been a defining moment for squash and our athletes.


“To know that dream has been taken away from our players once again is disappointing for all involved, but not unexpected. Throughout the course of the last decade we have addressed all of the concerns the IOC have put forward and as a result the sport is in its strongest position ever.

“We have transitioned into a burgeoning global sport that is now broadcast in almost 100 countries worldwide and have witnessed increases in player earnings by over 20% so far in the past year alone.

“We have one of the cleanest drug records of any professional sport in the world and are a sport that is played in over 180 countries – boasting a truly global footprint.

“Alongside that recent improvements in broadcast technology, video referee technology, glass-court developments and more have taken the sport to a new dimension. These are all elements that everyone in the sport can feel truly proud of and we are buoyed by the strides we continue to take and we are committed to continuing that journey irrespective of the Olympic Games.”

Squash lost out to golf and rugby union sevens in a vote for 2016 and to wrestling for 2020 when the combat sport was forced to reapply. In this latest ballot it was beaten by baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing.

Dick Pound, a former IOC vice-president, said he was “very disappointed” squash had not made it as it “meets everything we would like in an Olympic sport”.