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Squash Presents Its Case To The IOC
Howard Harding reports...
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The bid by
Squash to get onto the Olympic Games programme for 2016 took a step
forward today (Friday) when a World Squash Federation delegation
offered the credentials of the sport to the Olympic Programme Commission
in Lausanne.
The seven
sports vying for the two probable spots are baseball, golf, karate, roller
sports, rugby sevens and softball, along with squash - each of which gave a
one-hour presentation.
The Squash
team, headed by IOC member Tunku Imran, himself a former WSF
President, featured two past presidents, Susie Simcock and Jahangir
Khan, along with newly-elected WSF President Mr N Ramachandran.
Australia’s record five-time world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald and WSF
Technical Director Andrew Shelley completed the group.
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The World Squash presentation party at IOC
headquarters (L to R): Jahangir Khan, N Ramachandran, Sarah Fitz-Gerald,
Tunku Imran, Susie Simcock and Andrew Shelley |
The
presentation highlighted that Squash is a sport for our time: A sport giving
great competitive exercise in a short time period, which has strong national
federations and features development initiatives all the way from local level
to elite.
The sport is
already featured in every major international multi-sport Games, except for
the Olympics. It has uniform scoring, is drug-free - and competing in the
Olympics would be the pinnacle of the career of any squash player.
The IOC
Commission, which included a number of IOC members, was also told that Squash
has had world champions from all regions, as well as around 150 national
federations belonging to the world body.
Mr
Ramachandran, who with outgoing President Jahangir Khan had paid a courtesy
visit to IOC President Jacques Rogge the day before, was upbeat after
the session.
“The questions
we were asked indicated a full understanding of our sport, and an interest in
details of our structure. They now know even more clearly what we stand for,
our strengths and everything positive that we believe we could bring to the
Olympic programme in 2016.”
For details of
the presentation,
click
here
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SQUASH
BIDS FOR A PLACE ON THE OLYMPIC PROGRAMME IN 2016
Howard Harding reports...
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THE
OLYMPIC DREAM
SQUASH
BIDS FOR A PLACE ON THE OLYMPIC PROGRAMME IN 2016
Since 1986
the World Squash Federation has been working with the
International Olympic Committee towards the target of Squash
becoming an Olympic Sport.
The benefits
to Squash of being on the programme are enormous: We would attract
increased media coverage; make the sport accessible to a new generation of
players; generate new development revenue; and bring more nations into the
Squash family as National Olympic Committees recognise the attributes of the
sport and the opportunity for Olympic medals.
The Bid for
2012
Following a
detailed review process by the IOC in 2005, two sports, Baseball and
Softball were voted off the programme for 2012. This allowed IOC members to
vote on the inclusion of two new sports to make the maximum of 28 sports.
Five "non-Olympic" sports – Squash, Roller Sports, Golf, Karate and Rugby
Sevens - had been studied by the Olympic Programme Commission as part of its
two-year analysis. From these five "non-Olympic" sports, the IOC members
selected Squash and then Karate as the two sports which could potentially be
chosen to join the Olympic programme for London 2012. For such a selection
to be endorsed, however, a two-thirds majority was needed, since any
"non-Olympic" sport must become an Olympic sport and listed as such in the
Olympic Charter under Rule 46. Ultimately, neither Squash nor Karate
obtained this two thirds majority and will therefore not be included for
London 2012.
Forward To
2016
The IOC has
now confirmed the format for a new Review of the Programme, to take effect
at the Olympic Games 2016. A shortlist announced in April 2008 lists
Baseball, Golf, Karate, Roller Sports, Rugby, Softball and Squash as the
candidate sports. Following a change to the Olympic Charter, the two thirds
majority needed for Olympic Sport recognition has been reduced to a simple
majority.
THE BID
PROCESS AND TIME SCALE
October 2008
·
IOC
Observers Sir Craig Reedie and Pierre Ducrey at the World Championships
November
2008
·
All
candidate sports present to the Olympic Programme Commission in Lausanne
December
2008 – March 2009
·
Detailed questionnaire to be completed
April 2009
·
Olympic Programme Commission report preparation
June
2009
·
Presentation of the Olympic Programme Commission report to IOC Executive
Board
·
Presentation by selected IFs to the IOC Executive Board;
October 2009
·
Executive Board proposal submitted to IOC session in Copenhagen
THE RULES OF
THE BID
·
The
Rules of Conduct must be respected by the WSF and any person or organisation
acting on their behalf
·
Promotional materials may be sent to IOC Members until September 2009
·
NO
visits to IOC Members by the WSF or anyone acting on their behalf or
supporting them
·
NO
receptions for IOC Members
·
NO
payment of travel or accommodation costs
·
NO
gifts
·
All
invitations to be cleared through the IOC Sports Department
·
NO
acts or statements that comment negatively on other sports
WSF
OBJECTIVES
·
To
achieve a positive report from the Manchester observation programme
·
To
present an irresistible and memorable case to the Olympic Programme
Commission
·
To
achieve endorsement of our Bid at the Executive Board presentation
·
To
convince 111 IOC members that they should vote for squash at the IOC session
in Copenhagen, October 2009
Squash
Presents A Compelling Case For Inclusion On The Olympic Programme, After
Experiencing Significant Global Growth Since Being Voted The Number One
Sport At The 2005 IOC Session In Singapore
The Olympic
Dream:
An Olympic medal would be the most important prize in a Squash player’s
career and the Olympic Games would be the most important event in the sport.
Every top player in the world would guarantee to play in the Olympics.
Universality:
Squash is played by an estimated 15 million people in over 155 countries -
with more than a quarter of a million registered athletes and over 600
professional athletes.
Spread of
Medals:
19 countries are represented in the top 32 of the Men’s and Women’s World
Rankings. A 32 draw Olympic event would be of the highest standard of play.
Squash For
All:
Squash is first and foremost a ‘participant sport’; the vast majority of
people associated with it actually play. Squash is a perfect way to combat
inactivity, lack of fitness and obesity and has real health and recreational
benefits for society.
Youth:
One of the key Olympic objectives is to engage with youth. Juniors are an
area of rapid growth in Squash, both at recreational level and elite
levels. The 2008 World Men's Junior Championships in Switzerland boasted a
record entry and World Junior Championships for girls and boys will now be
held annually due to demand from WSF Member nations. A new Junior global
ranking system is being instituted. The flourishing European Junior Circuit
featured 21 tournaments in 17 different countries in the 2007/08 season,
with a record number of entries.
Elite Squash:
Squash has flourishing, world-wide professional tours for Men and Women
with prize money of over $5 million in 2008. World Championships have been
held annually for over 40 years for Men and Women at Individual, National
Team, Junior, Masters and players with hearing disabilities levels.
Gender
Balance:
Women account for 30% of all recreational players and 37% of professional
athletes. The WSF board has led the way internationally by having a 60/40
male/female breakdown since 1991.
Major Games:
Squash is played in over 20 Multi-Sport Games including the World Games,
All-Africa Games, Asian Games, Pan-American Games, Commonwealth Games (in
which it has been named as a 'core sport'), World University Championships
and World Masters Games and is bidding for inclusion in the Mediterranean
Games 2013. In 1991 it was played in only two Multi-Sport Games.
Doping:
Squash has a strong anti-doping culture and dope testing programme. The
number of positive tests in the past decade has been negligible.
The Olympic
Event:
Squash in the Olympic Games would feature 32-draw Men’s & Women’s events. It
would be played on all-glass, demountable courts which are inexpensive for
the Host City and leave no ‘white elephant facility’ problems.
Television:
Aided by the all-glass court, TV production technology has developed
positively in the past few years - and Squash is now regularly featured on
TV in more than 125 countries across all continents
Web
Streaming:
Squash was
in the vanguard of web-streaming and in the past three years has attracted
large audiences. The last two World Championships each reached audiences in
over 75 countries while PSALIVE.tv features Men’s and Women’s Tour events
and has over 30,000 paid subscribers.
Athleticism:
The most important feature of Squash. Squash is supremely athletic -
a dynamic, competitive, skilful and physically challenging sport with
one-against-one matches decided on objective results. There is no place to
hide on a Squash court.
SQUASH
AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES: A PERFECT MATCH
15 October
2008
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WSF
Launches Olympic Countdown To Copenhagen
Howard Harding reports...
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WSF Launches Olympic
Countdown To Copenhagen
With exactly
a year to go before the IOC makes its decision on the sports which will take
part in the 2016 Olympic Games, Squash launches its bid for
inclusion during the 2008 Hi-Tec World Championships in Manchester
next week.
Squash is one
of seven sports which have been short-listed for consideration – and, after
narrowly missing out in the selection process for the 2012 Games, the sport
is determined to join the programme in eight years.
Jahangir Khan,
President of the World Squash Federation and arguably the sport’s
greatest ever player, will outline the sport’s credentials and hopes for its
long-awaited breakthrough at the IOC Session in Copenhagen in October 2009.
All of the
world’s leading players will be in action in Manchester - and joining the WSF
in its ‘Countdown to Copenhagen’.
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Beijing
Experience Boosts Jahangir Khan's Hopes For Squash In
2016 Games
Howard Harding reports...
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Attendance at
the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing has boosted World Squash
Federation President Jahangir Khan's hopes that Squash can make
its long-awaited debut in the Games in 2016.
Squash is one
of seven sports short-listed by the IOC for possible addition to the 2016
Games programme - the decision for which will be made at the IOC session in
Copenhagen in October 2009.
Joined in
Beijing by WSF Patron HRH Tunku Imran, the President of the Olympic
Council of Malaysia and an IOC Member, and WSF Emeritus President Susie
Simcock, who recently received the New Zealand Olympic Order award after
more than a decade of service with the NZ Olympic Committee, Khan was able to
meet and receive feedback and helpful advice from many IOC members present.
In addition
to meeting senior officials of the Chinese Squash Federation, the party also
met with IOC Sports department representatives to clarify the process leading
up to the selection of sports for the 2016 Olympic programme.
The WSF
delegates also met members of the international press in Beijing, which
provided numerous opportunities to convey the sport's strong credentials for
Olympic inclusion.
Furthermore,
Jahangir Khan joined representatives of other 2016 short-listed sports on an
"Around the Rings News Maker" breakfast panel session, which resulted in
significant worldwide publicity for the Squash bid.
"Squash is a
truly global sport - indeed the top six teams in last year's World Men's
Championships covered the five continents - and Olympic success would be the
ultimate goal for all our athletes," said Khan, the record ten-time British
Open champion and six-time World Open champion who is widely regarded as the
greatest squash player of all-time,
"We were most
grateful to the IOC for receiving accreditation to attend the
magnificently-hosted Olympics in Beijing, giving us the chance to observe and
enjoy the presentation of the many excellent sports on the Olympic programme.
"As a result
of my wonderful experience in Beijing, I am committed to working even harder
on behalf of our athletes to convince IOC decision-makers that Squash will
add value and should be included to the Olympic programme in 2016!
"I am more
optimistic than ever before that our Olympic dreams can be realised," added
Khan.
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