By Anand Phillar, IANS
Chennai : At 28, Amr Shabana has the squash world at his feet but the Egyptian star is not a happy man for he feels the sport has not taken off in a big way and the authorities are doing precious little to improve its profile.
The reigning world champion feels that the possibility of squash being included in the 2012 Olympics is no big deal.
“If you ask me now about taking part in the Olympics, then I will say I am not interested. If squash were a big sport, then they (International Olympic Committee) would have come to us. But now, we have gone to them. This is not the way it should be,” he said.
Shabana criticised the World Squash Federation (WSF) and the Professional Squash Association (PSA) saying the two bodies were guilty of not marketing the sport and giving it a truly global profile.
“Just look at squash today. It is such a great sport and yet it has not taken off in a big way. Both the WSF and the PSA are not doing their job that includes marketing and promoting the sport globally. I think the game is moving forward far too slowly,” Shabana said.
Former world champion Jahangir Khan of Pakistan is the president of the WSF, but Shabana feels the legendary player cannot do much on his own.
“What can Jahangir alone do? Marketing squash is not his job. So they should have a set of professionals who can handle it. Take all of us (the top players) to different countries for tournaments and make sure these matches are advertised and televised globally.
“That will help to lift the profile of squash. The game has to be constantly be shown on TV and the exposure over a period of time will attract more players and advertisers,” he said.
Shabana also feels that the prize money on offer is negligible.
“The richest tournament in the world held in the Middle East offers only $31,000 to the winner. Compare this with say tennis or soccer and you will know what I am talking about. There are a lot of things that are not quite right with squash today.”