Squash icons Jahangir Khan and Nick Matthew upset sport still remains absent from Olympic Games

Matt Jones - Editor 12:09 13/06/2017
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  • Nick Matthew in action last week in Dubai

    Squash icons Jahangir Khan and Nick Matthew have voiced their concerns that the sport still refuses to be accepted on the grand stage of the Olympic Games.

    Last August, squash was again excluded from the list of sports to make their debut at the next edition of the Olympics at Tokyo 2020. It was a third straight bid by the World Squash Federation nor its players to get the ultimate recognition – and it was a third straight rejection.

    That means a sport played by over 20 million people globally on a daily basis, in 185 countries, has failed to earn a place at sport’s greatest spectacle for the last 12 years – and legends of the game past and present cannot fathom why it remains squeezed out.

    Sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding, meanwhile, have been given the green light.

    “I think it was time about 10 years ago to be honest,” said veteran Englishman Nick Matthew on the eve of the PSA World Series Finals held last week.

    “We’re not better than any other sports but we’re definitely on a par. I don’t think there’s much else left for this port to do. We were ready five years ago but now I think we’re ready to take the Olympics by storm.”

    After Malaysian squash star Nicol David – widely considered the game’s greatest female player – won her sixth world championship in 2011, she told reporters she would give up all of her eight world championship medals for a shot at an Olympic gold.

    Although broadcasting a game that played within the confines of four glass walls may not be the most thrilling of spectator sports, squash has been revolutionised in the last decade, with the introduction of HD cameras, instant replays and other high-tech visual improvements.

    After playing the first World Series Finals to be held in Dubai at the foot of the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa – in 2016, this year the season-ending spectacle was held at the stunning Dubai Opera.

    And Matthew added innovative new venues are just another attractive facet to squash’s continuing evolution.

    Pakistan legend Jahangir Khan says squash should have been in the Olympics years ago

    Pakistan legend Jahangir Khan says squash should have been in the Olympics years ago

    “Venues like this showcase the sport around the world,” the 36-year-old said of Dubai Opera.

    “This type of venue would be played in maybe once a year and now it’s the pinnacle, the season climax, while we also play in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

    “We could put the court in any country in the world and showcase that country like very few other sports.”

    His concerns that squash is being continually overlooked are shared by Khan – renowned as the game’s greatest ever player.

    “As a player I always felt like I should be playing there, at the Olympics, but it never happened in my lifetime,” said Khan, 53, who was also in Dubai last week.

    “We came very close in London. I remember that we were shortlisted from five sports to two sports, along with karate. I always felt like we should have got in. The voting procedure or support from the executive board members of the IOC, we didn’t get.

    “I felt it was unfair because squash has 185 nations that are official members. The circuit is played around the world, 25-30 million people are playing every day, so it surprises me. I feel it’s not fair.

    “After London, when we shortlisted, some games that were left out are now in, like golf and rugby sevens and others, while squash is still not there.

    “If you talk about the charter or rules or regulations we fulfill everything for the Olympics. I think they have to change their minds to increase more sports and athletes into the Olympics now, because this is not the 1950’s or 60’s. It’s the 21st Century and everything has changed.”

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