By Nick Butler

There will probably be no World Doubles Championships for top players like England's Nick Matthew following the failure of the attempt to hold it in Glasgow ©Getty ImagesFebruary 1 - It is likely the World Squash doubles Championships will be cancelled due to failure to land a venue after Glasgow 2014 were accused of refusing permission for the event to be held in the Commonwealth Games host city in June.


Scottish Squash and Racketball (SSRL) officials had made a last ditch attempt to step and host the tournament, scheduled for June 2 until 7, in Glasgow after the original Malaysian host Penang withdrew because they claimed tournament would take part too close to the Asian Team Championships in Hong Kong. 

But, after meetings with Glasgow Life and with the World Squash Federation (WSF), the attempt has been turned down, with Games organisers accused of refusing permission due to concerns over parking and "overlay" costs.

SSRL chief executive John Dunlop outlined to insidethegames a series of meetings with Glasgow Life in which concerns relating to car parking and seating for spectators were addressed.

However, despite the fact that the venue will remain open to the public, he was told Glasgow 2014 had refused permission for the event to take place.

Dunlop laimed "an objection of reduced parking is irrelevant since the IRB Rugby Sevens with 15,000 spectators operates on the same site with no parking at all."

"The decision to deny Scotland a world ­tournament with vague, unsubstantial and, we believe, unsustainable reasons is very disappointing," a SSRL spokesman also told the The Herald.

"The event was justified on very good sporting reasons - the World Squash Federation had confirmed as much to Glasgow Life, the venue owner."

Squash was on the programme for Delhi 2010 as it will be for Glasgow 2014...but Games organisers have been accused of preventing the staging of a tournament so soon before the Games ©Getty ImagesSquash was on the Commonwealth Games programme for Delhi 2010, as it will be for Glasgow 2014, but organisers have been accused of preventing the staging of a tournament so close to the Games ©Getty Images


Glasgow 2014 strongly denied refusing permission, and a spokesman told the The Herald they had "received no requests from SSRL regarding their bid to bring the 2014 World Doubles Championships to Glasgow in late May/early June."

They added: "had Glasgow 2014 been approached, we would have explained that, since the proposed dates for the event fall outside the period when the Organising Committee needs exclusive access to the main centre of Scotstoun Sports Campus, any decision to host this event would be at the discretion of the venue owners, Glasgow Life."

It now seems likely that the failure to host the event in Glasgow will lead to the tournament being cancelled.

WSF chief executive Andrew Shelley told Governing Body colleagues that "Scottish Squash's push to host the World Doubles was thwarted by ­difficulties in gaining permission to use the Scotstoun venue in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games dates."

"We are grateful for their efforts but it does mean the event will have to be cancelled unless another host comes forward immediately", he added.

This represents a change from the situation last week when a WSF spokesman claimed to insidethegames that the WSF was "considering a number of options for the event - of which one is Scotland."

It is also a further blow to squash after the 2013 Women's World Championships were delayed to this year, when they will be held in Penang, due to the failure to land a host city. 

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