20 February 2013
- The World Squash Federation, together with the Men's and Women's
Professional Tours, has just launched a new online campaign to build
support for Squash's ambition to join the Olympic Games in 2020.
Using the Twitter ID @vote4squash and hashtag #vote4squash, followers
are being urged to show their support and help turn Squash's Olympic
ambitions into reality. The initiative has already seen #vote4squash
trending in Malaysia, the Middle East, the United Kingdom and Australia.
World Squash Federation President N Ramachandran said: "Our 144 Member
Federations and the leading players on the PSA and WSA World Tours are
really getting behind this initiative to encourage as many fans as
possible to register their support for our Olympic campaign. This comes
on top of our existing use of Facebook and YouTube where our 2020
campaign film has registered nearly 100,000 views since being posted in
December.
"The next few months are crucial to our bid and using social media to
demonstrate the huge passion there is for Squash to become part of the
Olympic Games is important as we head towards our presentation to the
IOC Executive Board in May."
Malaysia's seven-time World Champion Nicol David added: "It is great to
see so many people register their support for Squash to join the
Olympic Games in such a short space of time. With #vote4squash trending
this week on Twitter in countries as diverse as Malaysia, the UK and
Egypt, it shows the global reach and popularity of Squash and I'm proud
to be a part of it."
Nick Matthew, two-time Men's World Champion, said: "This is a great
initiative and there is a real buzz among all the players competing on
the Tours about our Olympic bid. We want to demonstrate to the IOC the
global popularity and reach of Squash and I'm sure this online call to
action will help to do this."