A Very Important Press Release From World Squash Federation…
On October 23, 2013 the Annual General Meeting of the World Squash Federation approved a revised version of the Rules of Squash. These updated Rules will come into effect on 1st January 2014.
The 2014 Rules contain very few changes compared to the current Rules, so that squash players,
referees and spectators will need to make very few adjustments. However, the 2014 Rules have
been restructured (e.g. Rule 12, Interference is now Rule 8) and the number of Rules has been
reduced from 20 to 15. In addition, the 2014 Rules have tried to simplify the English as an aid to
better understanding.
The following are the major changes:
1. There are no “Guidelines”. As a consequence the 2014 Rules contain 1500 fewer words (8
500) than the current ones (10 000).
2. The Interference Rule (Rule 8) has been restructured to help players, referees and others
understand the central concept of interference better and reach the correct decision more
easily.
3. In the case of an injury or bleeding caused solely by the opponent, a distinction is now
made between an injury or bleeding caused by a deliberate act by a player and an injury
caused by an accidental act, where the opponent is unable to continue play immediately.
Whereas under the current Rules the penalty for an injury to the opponent caused
accidentally is loss of match, under the 2014 Rules the penalty is less severe (see Rule
14.3.3 & 14.4.2/3). The same principle applies to a deliberate distraction and an accidental
distraction (Rule 12.2).
Readers will also notice a few minor changes:
i) On the serve all faults are now called simply “fault” (cf. the current Rules where
there are 5 possible calls).
ii) The instruction concerning Crowd Distraction has been incorporated into Rule 12
(Distraction) as Rule 12.4.
iii) For a Contributed Injury the time allowed has been reduced from one hour to 15
minutes, with the possibility of another 15 minutes if requested by the injured player
(see Rule 14.3.2).
iv) The provision for a let if the ball goes out of court after the first bounce has been
deleted.
v) Appendix 4 (The Three-Referee System) and Appendix 5 (Video Review System)
have been added, following consultation with PSA and WSA.
vi) The Technical Appendices (current 5.1 – 5.3) have been separated and renumbered
Appendix 7 (Court), Appendix 8 (Ball), and Appendix 9 (Racket) for added clarity.
We hope that this version of the Rules will help everyone to understand the game better and
further the growth of our sport.
Rod Symington
Director
WSF Rules Commission
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Download your personal copy of the new Singles Rules 2014
Click here or on the image below…
