British Parliament Debates Squash Olympic Bid by Howard Harding
photo WSF
19 July 2016
- A Member of the UK Parliament has urged the British government to
take action for her favourite sport by delivering a paper Squash and
the Olympic Games for discussion at the UK Houses of Parliament in
London today.
Christina Rees is the MP for Neath in Wales and a former Welsh squash
number one who represented her country more than 100 times.
"Many people are surprised to learn that squash is not an Olympic
sport; they assume that it has been in the Olympics for many years,"
the Labour MP told her fellow MPs. "Sadly, that is not the case.
"Squash is gladiatorial, dynamic, physically demanding and mentally
challenging; it is like chess on legs. It teaches players strategy,
tactics and how to outmanoeuvre an opponent, so it is an ideal
grounding for a political career.
"Squash is a sport for life!
"Why is squash not in the Olympics? It is a complete mystery to me,"
Rees continued. "Squash is a genuinely global sport that is played by
millions of people all over the world. There have been male and female
world champions from every continent. Last year, 47 countries hosted
professional senior tour events, featuring players from 74 nations. We
now have over 50,000 courts in more than 185 nations, from the Arctic
Circle to the bottom tips of South America and Australia.
"The host for 2024 will be decided in 2017. The front-runner appears to
be Los Angeles, but we have no idea whether there will be any space for
new sports. Squash would be inexpensive to introduce, with men's and
women's singles draws of 32 each.
"The competitions would take place on two courts over six days - each
show court could accommodate 4,000 spectators. Imagine what two show
courts in Horse Guards Parade would have added to the London games!"
concluded Rees in her impassioned plea to the government to show its
support for squash.
Tracey Crouch, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture,
Media and Sport, responded: "There is no doubt that the case to include
squash as a future Olympic sport has been made with great passion and
conviction today.
"Squash is indeed an exciting, dynamic sport and it has a rich heritage in this country.
"There is certainly a case to be made that such an innovative and
exciting sport should be able to grace the world's biggest stage."
Delighted by this governmental hearing, World Squash Federation
President N Ramachandran added: "It's good to know that our case to try
to secure a place for squash on the Olympic Games programme is being
made at parliamentary level.
"We continue to believe that squash is a great fit for the Olympics and
dream of the time when the Games could become the pinnacle aspiration
for all our athletes."
