The story: "Squash: Sport at its Best"

Squash: Sport at its best

The WSF's 2020 Olympic campaign gears up with President Ramachandran and Madeline Perry hosting a press conference for Olympic journalists highlighting the changes squash has made since losing out in previous bids.

It's been picked up by a number of the mainstream news agencies too ...

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when presidents meet

The central feature of a celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong was a presentation by IOC President Jacques Rogge.

(L to R) David Mui (Chairman, Hong Kong Squash / ASF Vice President), Anne Rogge, Jacques Rogge, N Ramachandran and Dato Sani Karim (President, ASF)

VERO has extensive experience in the world of sport and successfully advised the International Rugby Board in its campaign to get Rugby Sevens on the Olympic Sports Programme; PyeongChang in its bid to host the 2018 Winter Games; Rio in its bid to host the 2016 Summer Games; Qatar in its bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Glasgow in its bid to host the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

07-Jul-11:
WSF appoints bid experts VERO

Following the IOC’s announcement that Squash is on the shortlist for Olympic inclusion in 2020, the WSF today announced that it has appointed VERO Communications to be its Bid Management Company.

Commenting on VERO’s appointment, WSF President N Ramachandran said: “I am delighted that we have reached agreement with VERO for them to be our Bid Management Company and communications advisers and we look forward very much to working with VERO Chairman Mike Lee and his colleagues in trying to realise our long-held goal of Squash becoming a Summer Olympic medal sport from 2020.

“When we met Mike, we felt straight away that he understood our sport and our ambitions. VERO have a tremendous track record in assisting bidding cities and sports so Squash will benefit immensely from drawing upon their experience and knowledge.”

Mike Lee OBE, VERO Chairman, added: “We are thrilled with this appointment. Our aim is to help Squash put forward a compelling case to the IOC Programme Commission and wider Olympic Family on why the sport would be a fantastic addition to the Games.

“There is a long road ahead in the campaign but we are excited by the challenge. Working with President Ramachandran and the WSF team, we will do all we can to help ensure that the voice of Squash is heard all the way to the IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013.”

“Having Vero on board will be a massive boost for our bid," said WSF CEO Andrew Shelley following today's WSF announcement. "Mike Lee is hugely respected by the Olympic fraternity and his incredible success rate on behalf of bid teams in various sporting contexts speaks for itself. After helping to bring the 2018 Winter Olympic Games to PyeongChang in South Korea yesterday, we hope he can sprinkle some magic our way next!”
 

World Squash Federation Welcomes Inclusion of Squash On Olympic Games Shortlist

The World Squash Federation (WSF) tonight welcomed the news that Squash has been included on the shortlist of sports to be considered for inclusion in the Olympic Sports Programme starting in 2020.

WSF President N Ramachandran, upon hearing the news, said today: “We are delighted to be given this new opportunity to be considered for inclusion in the Olympic Sports Programme. I am confident that we will be able to show the IOC Programme Commission, the Executive Board and wider IOC membership that our case has become even stronger over recent years.

“I truly believe that Squash would be a great Olympic sport. It fulfils all the criteria for inclusion in the Games, has proven universality and growth and we have an absolute commitment from all our top athletes that an Olympic medal would be the pinnacle of their careers.

!We also have high-profile world champions, exciting world championships for men and women, massive participation from juniors to masters on all continents and a healthy, thriving programme of youth development worldwide.

“Squash has benefitted from some incredibly exciting technical innovations in recent years, including dramatic glass flooring, courts that can be sited in iconic settings such as the Pyramids and New York’s Grand Central Station, vastly-improved television coverage in HD with multiple camera positions, and ‘super slow-mo’ replays. We are not a sport that stands still.

!All this and the fact that Squash is a wonderful example of one-on-one sporting gladiatorial competition, would make it a perfect addition to the Games.

“Our campaign starts with new energy and vigour as of today and I am delighted that we will have an opportunity to take our message to the whole Olympic and sporting family over the next two years.”

PSA "delighted"

 IOC announcement

More on Olympic.org

WISPA Happy

"We are delighted that Squash has been included on the IOC's shortlist again," said WISPA’s Chairman acting CEO Ingrid Lofdahl-Bentzer.

"We have been working very closely alongside PSA and WSF to really push for Squash’s inclusion in the 2020 Games. We learnt some valuable lessons from the last bid and are using the feedback we were given by the IOC to step up our efforts even greater this time round.”

“The presentation of the game to the public has never been better. Squash TV broadcasts live matches from the biggest PSA and WISPA tournaments from around the World. With PSA and WISPA aligning to create the prestigious World Series, featuring the best players in the world, Squash has never been so united.

"The players are all very excited about the possibility of showcasing their talent at the 2020 Olympics.”