Joint statement from World Squash Federation (WSF) and Professional Squash Association (PSA)

21 February 2019

WSF and PSA have met the announcement on the proposed selection of additional sports for the Paris 2024 Olympic Programme with great disappointment.

The proposed list of four sports only, of which three sports are already confirmed by the IOC on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme, leads to a belief that Paris 2024 and the IOC favoured sports already in the Olympic programme, leaving practically no opportunity for other sports.

The unity that our sport enjoys globally is exceptional and is getting stronger by the day. WSF and PSA are supported by the entire squash community and, with our athletes at the forefront, have run a strong campaign that respected the timeline and the criteria set by Paris 2024 and the IOC. During the campaign, we showed that squash has a vibrant and real forward-looking programme rooted in constant innovation, which strives for more inclusiveness and sustainability, youth engagement and equality across all of our activities in and outside of the court.

We truly believe squash could seamlessly integrate into the Olympic programme with minimal costs and an optimised pool of participants. Our unique interactive glass court would allow squash to bring a lot of additional excitement and spectacular action to any iconic monument of the host city or shed a new light on less known urban areas, while also helping to engage young people in the sport from day one of the preparations and well beyond the Olympic Games.

- ENDS -

For further information from the World Squash Federation:

Howard Harding, WSF World Media Director

media@worldsquash.org | +44 7773 325130

For further information from the Professional Squash Association:

Sean Reuthe, PSA PR & Media Manager

sean@psaworldtour.com | +44 113 859 1000

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only