Egyptian Federation President Assem Khalifa (Photo: Egyptian Squash Association official website)
The World Men's Squash Team Championship, that was due to take place in Egypt later this month, has been postponed indefinitely.
"The Egyptian Squash Federation informed the World Squash Federation (WSF) today of the decision, which was taken due to earlier team withdrawals and concerns of others about security," the official website of the WSF reported late Friday.
Several teams recently withdrew from the squash event, which was due to start 12 December, including reigning champions England, along with France, Germany, the USA, Canada, Germany and Finland, over security fears.
“We request this postponement with a heavy heart as Cairo is a safe city,” said Egyptian Squash Federation president Assem Khalifa, quoted on the WSF site.
“All arrangements for holding the event are in place, including full government support to ensure protection as would be afforded to visiting VIPs, and so there is no reason for the championship not to proceed.
“However, we are mindful that some teams did not wish to attend the championship for their own reasons and [we] wish to end any uncertainty for other nations in a positive way by postponing [the event] until a later date. It pains us to do so as there is no reason for this and many teams have incurred costs, but it is something we must do to be fair to all," Khalifa added.
Egypt hosted the tournament twice before, in 1985 and 1999.
The tournament, held every two years and organised by the World Squash Federation, includes participation by 25 teams from five confederations: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
WSF president N Ramachandran reacted sadly to the postponement decision, saying: "It is distressing that this event in the wonderful city of Cairo is being postponed. We can only thank the Egyptian Federation again for stepping in to take it on at short notice after the Kuwait NOC (National Olympic Committee) suspension by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) required us to relocate."
“We will liaise with all member nations after we have taken stock of the position. For now, we accept the decision of our esteemed Egyptian partners and express our disappointment to them and the many nations that were in expectation of what would have been a superb championship," he added.
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