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. Squash had high hopes for inclusion in the Sydney Games but sadly the host city elected to choose Taekwondo instead.

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 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 were therefore not included for London 2012.

The Bid for 2016

In April 2008 the IOC confirmed a new review of the programme for the Olympic Games in 2016 and announced a shortlist of Baseball, Golf, Karate, Roller Sports, Rugby 7s, Softball and Squash.
Following a change to the Olympic Charter, the two thirds majority needed for Olympic Sport recognition was reduced to a simple majority.

Following WSF's first presentation to the IOC in November 2008, the new ManCom appreciated with concern that significant ground had been lost and that a major renaissance of our campaign was required.

A Task Force was therefore established in January 2009 with representation from the Boards of WSF, PSA and WISPA. George Mieras was appointed as Olympic Bid Co-ordinator with a budget that was personally approved by the WSF President. The first vital action was to appoint Scott Garrett as Bid Manager.

Early in the campaign a brand identity was defined and seven positive messages about squash were developed. These were trailed initially in the WSF response to the IOC Questionnaire in February 2009 and were then circulated to stakeholders and written into every communication and Press release.

The seven key messages were:

i) Squash is relevant for today as the world’s healthiest, most exciting sport.
Forbes Magazine concluded that squash was the world’s healthiest sport after a survey in 2007. Squash doesn’t take very long to play but players burn lots of calories while playing, so it’s great for young people today who want to get fit in the shortest possible time. At the elite level, squash is extremely athletic and exciting to watch, live and on TV.

ii) Squash is a popular, accessible sport, played the world over.
Squash is played in 175 countries by over 20 million people. Every continent contains recreational players and professionals. It is played by men and women, young and old. It’s easy to get started and the cost of equipment is low. There are courts all over the world and it’s easy to just turn up and have a game.

iii) The game is well organised to take advantage of inclusion in the Olympic Games.
Both the PSA and WISPA manage flourishing World Tours in which elite players compete. The WSF manages World Championships and these are fully integrated into the World Tours. All three organisations are 100% behind the bid for inclusion in the Olympic Programme and are fully prepared to take advantage of the increase in awareness and participation that will result for the good of the game, and the Games, in general.

iv) An Olympic Medal will be the sport’s highest honour.
Every elite player agrees that the Olympic Games would take the sport to a different level and the Olympic Champion of Squash is a title that every player wants. For the Lausanne presentation, this was combined with the messages below:

v) Squash’s top athletes will definitely compete.
The world’s top men and women have all signed a pledge that they would compete in the Olympic Games. They will be supported in doing so by their National Federations, the WSF and PSA or WISPA.

vi) Squash can take the Olympic Games into new markets.
Squash has world class athletes from countries that do not traditionally produce Olympians. Including squash in the Olympic Games will boost awareness of the Olympic Movement in these countries, and will also promote better funding for the development of the sport.

vii) The impact of squash on the Olympic Games will be high, the cost low.
Squash is a portable sport: a court requires minimal space and can be erected almost anywhere. Squash tournaments have been held in many iconic locations around the world, attracting players and non-players to the sport. This makes squash an ideal sport for showcasing the host city. We will use local squash clubs in the host city for training and practice, so squash can be staged without any investment in permanent facilities or infrastructure.

The Patron, Emeritus President, President and Members of the WSF Board attended many official events around the world in order to present the case for Squash; and WSF had a major presence with top squash players at Sportaccord in Denver in March 2009 where we:

• took the opportunity to communicate directly with as many IOC delegates as possible;

• created a strong presence with leading professional players in a forum where our competitor sports were expected to be represented;

• addressed the media in as broad and thorough manner as possible, to further communicate our Olympic messages.

We also created a special website for the bid, which provided a vehicle for supporters to make financial contributions to the bid via PayPal. We responded to a number of supplementary questions arising from our response to the IOC Questionnaire and then prepared and thoroughly rehearsed our presentation to the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne in June 2009.

2016 Olympic Bid - Post Berlin

Message from WSF President

"I speak for the whole sport when I say that we are hugely disappointed that the IOC Executive Board has not selected Squash to face the wider IOC vote in Copenhagen in October," said WSF President N Ramachandran in response to today's IOC Executive Board announcement regarding the two sports (Rugby 7s and Golf) . [Rugby 7s and Golf were duly endorsed as the two candidate sports by the full IOC Membership in Copenhagen in October 2009 and will now take their places in the Olympics 2016 programme for Rio de Janeiro].

"I believe that Squash has come a long way in the last four years, not just in order to try and gain Olympic inclusion but for the benefit of the sport as a whole. We have invested in developments and listened to players at all levels in order to help progress the sport. I believe that, through this, we have been able to take Squash to a new level. Although we will not see our dream of being part of the Olympic Games from 2016, we will continue to improve the sport wherever possible, and will not give up on the belief that Squash is deserving of, and ready for, Olympic status."

Review and Critique of the Bid by WSF Olympic Bid Co-ordinator

George Mieras circulated the following personal review and critique of the IOC decision to all WSF Members on 18th August 2009.

Scott Garrett prepared a detailed presentation with his own personal views of the lessons to be learnt from the 2016 Olympic bid. He had hoped to present this presentation at the WSF Conference in Kuala Lumpur in November 2009, but had to cancel at the very last moment because of a close family bereavement. Scott's presentation is now available to view on the web site – this can be accessed via the Members Secure Area. 

WSF Members had the opportunity to meet and question Pierre Ducrey, IOC Head of Sports Operations and IF Relations immediately before the WSF AGM in Kuala Lumpur. Subsequently President Ramachandran and I had a meeting with President Rogge in Lausanne to discuss both the 2009 campaign and the future with him face to face. This was a heartening meeting with much positive in the way of appreciation of the many ways in which Squash fulfils the Olympic criteria, encouragement to continue to try and identification of two areas where we need to strengthen our case, growth of the game worldwide and the overall impact of squash on TV. The latter, it was stressed; is not just about bringing in money, which was good to hear. We are immediately starting to work on these areas and the 2013 campaign, trying to ensure we have funding in place well ahead and putting in place a detailed programme of lobbying and communicating with the IOC wherever and whenever it is needed. Deputy Committee Director M. Jacques Fontaine is particularly involved in this area.