Squashing The IOC's Doubt by Nick-at-Will July 27, 2014
- If ever the IOC had a doubt regarding the popularity of squash, this
photo taken at the 2014 Commonwealth Games...showing a full house
should remove that doubt. This certainly comes under the heading of: "A
picture is worth a thousand words!" And...this photo was taken only
during the quarter-finals of the women's squash event!
To be sure, there will
not be a seat to be found during the semi and finals of the women's and
men's doubles, mixed doubles and singles squash events...that's for
sure! Isn't this a good-enough reason for the IOC Executive Committee
to re-consider their decision - and elect SQUASH to be the "new" sport
at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo!?
Wait a minute! Perhaps this could actually happen! Quoting the latest (significant changes) report from Inside theGames... Inside The Games "Significant changes
to the way in which sports events are selected for the Olympic program
look to be on the way, following a wide-ranging Summit meeting at the
International Olympic Committee (IOC's) lakeside headquarters.
The 16 key Olympic
Movement stakeholders present came out in support of an initiative
aimed at adopting "an event-based rather than a sport-based" approach
to the program's composition while keeping the existing limit on the
number of athletes participating.
The meeting also
supported the establishment of an Olympic TV channel, paving the way
for the IOC to develop the concept further with relevant stakeholders
in coming months. The concept of allowing more flexibility for Olympic
bid-cities also secured the group's backing, with candidate-cities
urged to focus on local legacy "from the very beginning of the bid
procedure".
The move comes against
a backdrop of growing skepticism among citizens of potential bidders,
particularly in western Europe, as to the benefits of staging the Games
in their local area. Such attitudes risk leaving the IOC with less
choice than it would ideally like when selecting its partner-cities.
On issues to do with
the sporting calendar, Summit participants agreed on the creation of an
online database to coordinate the scheduling of sports competitions at
a global level. They agreed to a project to compile a "comprehensive
universal spring calendar" of current events.
The Summit also
underlined its continued full backing for the Olympic Agenda 2020
reform program set in motion by Thomas Bach, the IOC President. This
process is set to conclude at an Extraordinary IOC Session in Monaco in
December, when the final approval of IOC members will be sought.
More consultations on
Olympic Agenda 2020 are scheduled for September when the deliberations
of the Summit, together with the outcome of recent working group
discussions will be presented to IOC Commissions. The refined proposals
will then be discussed again at what is shaping to be a critical
Executive Board meeting in October. From this...the detailed Monaco
agenda is likely to emerge." Really all...fingers crossed and stay tuned!
