Yet another Olympics has gone by with a glaring omission from its sporting timetable. Squash has now made three unsuccessful bids to be included as part of the Olympiad, and over the years its players have watched on with increasing frustration as sports such as wrestling, climbing – and perhaps most infuriatingly – golf have joined the historic competition. Distressingly, with the organisers of Tokyo 2020 electing to include among its 33 events baseball and skateboarding instead of squash, this sorry state of affairs shows no sign of changing.

This is increasingly hard to take given that there exists a common view that the Olympics should be the pinnacle of all sporting competitions, yet the inclusion of some of these sports simply renders it the complete opposite. Certainly, for golf this is not the case: Rio 2016 saw a horrifically low turnout from the world's best, with Rory McIlroy – ranked second in the world for the men's game – telling the press that he would spend the Olympic fortnight “watching the sports that matter.”

In contrast, such a negative attitude would not be found coming from the world's best in squash, with world champion Nicol David expressing a willingness to give up all eight of her world titles for just one single Olympic medal. Former World No. 1 Nick Matthew meanwhile has been insistent that squash will never “take no for an answer… and will keep fighting to get in the Olympics.”

These are athletes with a clear regard for the Olympics, and who can be considered among some of the world’s top athletes. Squash is an extremely physical game – Forbes has ranked it as the most effective for giving its players an all-round workout – with professionals required to show incredible levels of flexibility, agility, and endurance. Even for more casual players. the health benefits it offers are second to none.

McIlroy's comments reinforce the doubts of many that the Olympics are increasingly defective in a variety of ways; a look at the stories both before and during Rio 2016 illustrate a catalogue of scandals and controversies, from doping to questionable state investment. The Olympics is certainly in need of an image clean-up in which squash could undoubtedly play a major part.

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For one thing, squash has a reputation for being a relatively clean sport, and it is also a cheap addition to the Olympics that can nonetheless lead to some iconic sporting images. Due to its relatively small size, a squash court can be constructed in a variety of fantastic locations – a recent World Tour tournament took place in a court complete with a stunning backdrop of the Pyramids in Giza. Squash can also help fortify the Olympic ideals of inspiration and inclusion: certainly, it is far more accessible than sports such as the modern pentathlon which require investment in expensive equipment beyond the resources of many would-be sports stars. 

After years of being overlooked, there are those in the squash world who feel it is time to give up on the Olympics giving the sport the recognition it deserves: Saurav Ghosal, India’s top squash player, has suggested no progress will be made until the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restructures its decision-making process. The IOC’s judgement is indeed increasingly questionable: it was ludicrous of them to think that a superpower sport such as golf, with all its entrenched events with decades of history and money-making power, would embrace the Olympics properly.

But the results of a successful bid could have huge ramifications for the sport: in the UK, for example, the sport is heading for a slow decline as the bulk of grassroots players come from an ageing demographic. Being part of the Olympics would give squash the worldwide exposure and funding that could lead to an influx of new participants, while sponsorship could potentially help the sport to reach the heights of its heyday during the 70s and 80s once again.

There is evidence that shows that people want to see squash on a more regular basis. During the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, for example, the stands surrounding the squash courts were packed nightly, and the men's final between Englishmen Nick Matthew and James Willstrop drew a television audience of one million viewers. Matthew trended on Twitter and the performances of both athletes were hailed by a number of Olympic medallists, including Matthew Pinsent, Daley Thompson and Joanna Rowsell, as well as other sporting icons such as Gary Lineker and Michael Vaughan, all of whom took to Twitter to voice their appreciation and respect for squash.

This contradicts critics who suggest that squash is not a great spectator sport, citing the length of rallies that can end with 'lets' and no points being scored. But this overlooks modern court developments and a faster scoring system, both of which have contributed to a vastly improved viewing experience.

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There seems little else that squash could do to win over the IOC – in some ways, continued pandering with little reward is growing increasingly tiresome. However, progress could be made in one main respect: in its most recent failed attempt, squash's bid was led by the head of the World Squash Federation, Narayan Ramachandran, who has been described as "embarrassing" by the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and accused of corruption in his native India, to the extent that he was stripped of a government award. Having such an individual at the helm is likely to tarnish the sport's chances, but this quite frankly is no excuse – not only does one man not make a sport, but squash's other main organisation, the PSA, also has an excellent reputation and organises an extremely successful World Tour. This is an organisation that can produce a sport that would be a credit to the Olympic Games. 

Squash fully deserves its place at the sporting world's most iconic and famous competition. Olympians across the world are lauded for their extraordinary levels of commitment and fitness that allow them to reach the very top level of sports that are widely played and inclusive: it is a select group that squash players have a right to join.