Ahead of the England Rugby team’s Six Nations clash with Italy this weekend, Squash’s campaign to become part of the2020 Olympic Games received a boost when England captain Chris Robshaw, along with Chris Ashton, Dan Cole,Henry Thomas, Tom Youngs, Joe Marler and Mako Vunipola backed the Squash 2020 campaign.

Their support follows the launch last month of a new online campaign to build support for Squash’s ambition to join the Olympic Games using the Twitter ID @vote4squash. The World Squash Federation (WSF) campaign has already gained the support of current and former athletes including Roger Federer, Sachin Tendulkar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Victoria Pendleton, Greg Searle, and Squash legend Jahangir Khan.

WSF CEO Andrew Shelley said: “It’s great to have the support of members of the England Rugby team, particularly given Rugby Sevens’ success in gaining a place in the Olympic Games at Rio in 2016.

“We are entering a crucial few months in our campaign to join the Olympic Games Sports Programme and building online support and awareness is an important part of our campaign strategy.”