The Federação Nacional de Squash in Portugal has been recognised as a Public Sport Utility which will enable the organisation to receive public funding as they look to develop squash in the country.

By being recognised as a Public Sport Utility, squash is now seen as a main tier sport by the Portuguese government and the ability to receive public funding will help the Federação Nacional de Squash reach its ambitious goals over the next four years.

It comes three years after the organisation was initially recognised as a Public Utility Organisation, which came off the back of a change to the organisational structure and increased focus on ‘grassroots’ squash.

“We believe that this will undoubtedly give a boost to squash in Portugal,” said Federação Nacional de Squash President Luis Ferreira.

“This will not only give motivation to clubs and local entities to promote squash even better, it will also enable a better collaboration with the federation. [Becoming a Public Sport Utility] means that we are recognised as one of the best sport federations in Portugal, giving more credibility for all stakeholders involved, such as associations, clubs, athletes, social players, sponsors and more.

“We have a number of key objectives over the next 12 months. Once we get through the pandemic, we will look to develop the junior and coaching programmes, develop squash campaigns on social media in order to revamp the image of the sport and reinforce our competitive circuits to create more events.

“We are also exploring ways in which we can get more women to take up squash as well as developing a refereeing programme. Alongside squash, we also aim to increase participation in Squash57 and develop that sport too.

Portuguese duo Alexandra Santos and Catarina Nunes in action
Portuguese duo Alexandra Santos and Catarina Nunes in action

“We want to thank the World Squash Federation for all the support they have given us over the years and, more than ever, we will commit to the development and growth of our sport.”

For more information on the Federação Nacional de Squash, read all about their ‘club squash map’ which they hope will increase participation following the effects of COVID-19.