|
|
|
17-Dec-08
WSF Sets Up Olympic Task Force
The Management Committee
of the World Squash
Federation, led by its new President N
Ramachandran, has set up a top level task force to lead the
sport's bid to join the Olympic
Games programme in
2016.
The decision was taken at
the first meeting of the committee since Ramachandran succeeded Jahangir
Khan as the
Federation's President in October.
At the two-day event in Chennai,
India, on 13/14 December,
the committee also co-opted Frank
van Loon (Netherlands)
as Vice President to strengthen the committee, and appointed Dr
George Mieras (Scotland)
as company secretary.
The primary topic for
discussion and action over the next ten months was Squash's bid to
be accepted as a sport at the 2016 Olympic Games.
The key milestones are:
· SportAccord
meeting in Denver, USA, in March 2009. The
WSF delegation, led by N Ramachandran, will also include former
Presidents Susie Simcock and Jahangir Khan.
· Response
to detailed questionnaire from IOC programme commission by
March/April 2009, demonstrating the sport's universality; compliance
with IOC ethics and standards; as well as values that Squash can
bring to the Games
· Critical
presentation to IOC Executive Board in Lausanne, Switzerland, in
June 2009 by the World Squash team led by His Royal Highness Tunku
Imran along with WSF President N Ramachandran, former Emeritus
President Susie Simcock, and leading athletes
· Decision
in October 2009 on which two sports to be added to the Olympic Games
2016 will be made by the IOC session in Copenhagen. World
Squash will be present with a delegation led by President N
Ramachandran, Vice Presidents and athletes
The Olympic Task Force
will be headed by Frank
van Loon, assisted by fellow WSF Vice President Chris
Stahl and George
Mieras, together with Olympic Coordinator Ted
Wallbutton. The
twofold aims of the new task force will be to:
· Promote
the case for Squash through its members, athletes and supporters
worldwide
· Encourage
fund-raising in support of Squash's bid and final presentation using
direct approaches to WSF members and by using the internet to
approach all those Squash players and enthusiasts worldwide who
would like to support the campaign
The task force will
include athletes from the professional players' associations (PSA
and WISPA) - leading members of which have signed a memorandum of
understanding committing themselves to full support of the bid and
participation in the Olympic Games.
In further initiatives
heralded by the new Management Committee, PSA and WISPA will each be
invited to have a representative on the WSF Executive Committee -
and Vice Presidents of the WSF's regional federations will be
invited to attend Management Committee meetings.
The World Squash
Federation is also taking all the necessary steps to remain totally
compliant with the new WADA code and has set up an athletes'
commission as recommended by the IOC.
"It was a very
wide-ranging and successful first meeting of the new Management
Committee," said President Ramachandran. "We
took some important decisions and clearly the Olympic issue is
uppermost in all our thoughts and plans - I especially look forward
to hearing the first reports from our new Olympic Task Force in due
course.
"We need to strengthen
even further our links with our athletes and our members nations -
which is why we have invited our regional federations and the two
player bodies to play a more active part in our decision-making
processes," added Ramachandran.
|
WSF Presentation
(updated)
|
|
 |
14-Nov-08:
Squash presents its case
to the IOC ...
The bid by Squash to get onto the Olympic Games programme for 2016
took a step forward today 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.
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.”
|
The Presentation
Executive Summary
of the WSF Bid
|
|
|
|
13-Nov-08:
Ramachandran meets
Rogge in Lausanne
The new World Squash Federation President Mr N Ramachandran
paid a courtesy call on International Olympic Committee President
Jacques Rogge today at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne.
Outgoing WSF President Jahangir Khan introduced his
successor, who was elected at last month's WSF AGM which was held
during the Men's & Women's World Championships in Manchester,
England.
During the visit, Ramachandran & Khan took the opportunity to
present a commitment signed by top squash stars, led by world number
ones Nicol David and Amr Shabana, pledging that the Olympics would
be the ultimate prize for any squash player.
Squash is one of seven sports short-listed by the IOC for
consideration for the 2016 Olympic Games.
The meeting with President Rogge took place on the eve of the WSF's
presentation to the Olympic Programme Commission in Lausanne.
|
Spot the signatories ... |
|
Christophe Dubi, IOC Sports Director; N Ramachandran, WSF President;
Jacques Rogge, IOC President; Jahangir Khan, WSF Emeritus President |
Seven Sports present case to IOC
By Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press
GENEVA - Leaders of baseball and softball, along with five other
sports seeking inclusion in the 2016 Summer Games, will present
their cases Friday to the International Olympic Committee.
Golf, karate, roller sports, rugby and squash officials also will
meet the 16-member program commission, which will deliver an
influential report to the IOC's top decision-making body before the
vote by IOC members in October. The IOC will field 28 sports at the
2016 Olympics, allowing two sports to be added.
Each sport has a one-hour slot, with baseball making the first pitch
in the closed-door presentations in Lausanne, Switzerland. Baseball
and softball were dropped after the Beijing Games because they did
not receive enough votes in 2005 to remain on the 2012 program.
To win reinstatement, baseball must show the IOC it can
deliver major league players to the Olympics, which is held during
the second half of the regular season. Detroit Tigers centre-fielder
Curtis Granderson will speak as part of the IBAF's maximum
six-person delegation.
"We want to do our best to tell the story of baseball,"
International Baseball Federation president Harvey Schiller told The
Associated Press on Thursday. "We wanted to bring a player that is a
star now and also a star of the future. Curtis is young enough to be
able to participate eight years from now."
Softball made its debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games and the
Americans swept three consecutive Olympic gold medals before losing
to Japan in the final in Beijing. The International Softball
Federation has distanced itself from baseball in an attempt to win
back its place in the Olympics. Baseball and softball lost inclusion
by a single vote in Singapore three years ago. ISF president Don
Porter will be joined by Olympic players Saskia Kosterink of the
Netherlands and Rubilena Rojas of Venezuela.
The key sessions Friday come before the vote by 100 IOC members next
year in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The case for golf, last played at the Olympics in 1904, will
be presented by the International Golf Federation. It's led by PGA
executive Ty Votaw and Peter Dawson of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club
of St. Andrews, Scotland.
The World Karate Federation, with 180 national federations,
hopes the global appeal will be attractive to the IOC. It proposes
awarding 10 gold medals in five classes for men's and women's
competitions.
The International Federation for Roller Sports proposes road
races on city streets, but no rink hockey or skateboarding.
Rugby fell from the Olympic program in 1924 and wants to
return with the seven-a-side, shorter version of the game for men
and women, rather than the more established 15-a-side competition.
The World Squash Federation will emphasize its
television-friendly, glass-enclosed courts. Its delegation includes
IOC member Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia and former world champions
Jahangir Khan of Pakistan and Sarah Fitzgerald of Australia.
Franco Carraro of Italy is the chair of the program commission. He's
one of eight IOC members who will question the delegations before
presenting a report to the executive board.
The board meets in June to make recommendations to the full IOC
membership. A simple majority is needed for a sport to be voted onto
the program. The IOC also will select the 2016 host city during the
Copenhagen session. Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro are
the candidates.
Similar story from Reuters
|
Around The Rings looks at the Lausanne Presentations
Around the Rings
Each sport will get one hour, with 20 minutes allowed for a
presentation, followed by questions from the 15-member panel.
What the sports say and how well they say it is absolutely crucial
to cutting the long odds each face.
As of this writing, the sports won’t get the chance to make another
direct appeal to the IOC prior to next June when the IOC Executive
Board makes recommendations on which - if any - are deemed
Olympics-worthy and suitable for consideration.
The full IOC will vote on the 2016 program at the session next
October in Copenhagen.
Based on the 2005 Singapore Session when IOC members cut sports from
2012 while failing to add any, nothing is guaranteed. But in the
aftermath of that session there may be a will to expand.
The IOC rule on adding a sport to the program now requires just a
simple majority, changed from a two-thirds vote.
Full story |
|
 |
|
Vicky Botwright adds
her signature
|
15-Oct-08:
World's Top Players Pledge
Support For Squash Olympic Bid
The
world's leading players pledged their support for the World
Squash Federation's bid
for Squash to become an Olympic sport by signing a declaration that
"An Olympic Gold Medal Would Be The Ultimate Prize In Squash".
World number ones Amr
Shabana, of Egypt, and Nicol
David, from Malaysia, led the players' call for the sport to
join the Olympic Games programme in 2016 at a 'Countdown to
Copenhagen" reception in Manchester today, hosted by the WSF and led by its President Jahangir
Khan, one of the sport's greatest players of all time.
The reception took place during the Hi-Tec
World Squash Championships – Manchester 2008, the first championships
in the UK to combine both the Men's
World Open and Women's World
Open.
Squash is one of seven sports which have been short-listed by the
IOC for consideration for the 2016 Games - the decision for which
will be made in Copenhagen in October 2009.
Jahangir Khan outlined the sport's Olympic credentials and the
timetable of the bid process over the next twelve months.
"We
have a year to ensure that we do what needs to be done to get Squash
into the Olympics. All
parties have to work closely, with everybody pushing hard to try to
do their best to make this happen," said the six-time world champion
and record ten times British
Open winner.
Khan
pointed out that an IOC delegation, comprising Sir Craig Reedie and
Pierre Ducrey, will attend the Manchester World Championships later
in the week.
The
WSF President expressed his gratitude to all the players who had
taken time out from the World Championships to attend the reception.
"We
are delighted that all the players have signed our pledge - showing
that it would be a dream come true for all players for Squash to get
into the Olympics.
Gerard de Courcy,
a Vice President of the WSF, added: "One
of our strengths is that we are an easy sport to access - thus
squash can make sport more accessible generally. Squash
would gain a higher profile through being part of the Olympics and
therefore could lead to more people being attracted to participate
in sport, which is one of the Olympic ideals.
"The
World Masters Squash Championships, which will take place this month
in New Zealand for players in age-groups from Over-35 to Over-70,
have attracted a remarkable entry of 763 players from 39 countries -
which is another indication of the broad appeal of our sport."
Susie Simcock,
the Emeritus President of the WSF who represented the Federation at
the Beijing Olympics, alongside Khan, also pointed out: "We
are a totally athlete-focussed sport - few other sports can claim
the calibre of our athletes."
There was further endorsement of the WSF's Olympic campaign from the
World Championships' organisers: "The
Hi-Tec World Squash Championships – Manchester 2008 welcomes members
the International Olympic Committee to the National Squash Centre
this week to view what we hope will be the biggest and best squash
tournament ever staged," said Jim
Quigley, Head of Major Sports Events and Partnerships,
Manchester City Council.
"Squash has for a long time felt it deserves Olympic status and this
week’s Championships will be the perfect platform in which to
display the sport to the people who will ultimately make that
decision. Squash is a truly international sport with countries from
every continent represented here in Manchester and it would mean
everything for these players to have the chance to win an Olympic
medal for their country."
|
|
 |
|
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 AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES: A
PERFECT MATCH |
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.
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. |
|
