The weekend saw the start of the 7th Festival Olympico Ecuatorianno, a gathering of 3,000 athletes competing in 39 sports alongside a number of cultural events until 24 May in Ecuador's capital city Quito - and Squash will have a major part to play.  This comes at an important time for the sport, as it bids for a place in the Olympic Games from 2016. Squash is one of the eleven sports in the event to be designated as International, so this means that although the Festival is a domestic event there will be several overseas players competing in the Squash singles competition.

While checking on the fine-tuning of the event and the preparations for the Men's World Junior Squash Team & Individual Championships to be held in Ecuador next year, Deputy Minister of Sport Mr Raoul Ricorde was also briefed about the hopes that Squash has to be included in the Olympic Games programme for 2016.

Ecuador Squash Federation President Mr Alberto Adum explained: “The whole of South American Squash is behind our bid for the Olympics, and we see this yearly festival as our step towards this.  All the sports are on national TV now so squash is known to everybody here, whether they play or not.”

Explaining the importance of the Festival, Danilo Carrera D, Director of the Comité Limpico Ecuatoria, said: “This sports festival is the most important and large event in our country. The objective is to promote all the sports and to encourage the athletes to become elite players and participate in the Olympic cycle of events.”

For bid information please visit www.squash2016.info