The government has been asked to lobby for the inclusion of squash as an Olympic sport, although sports minister Tracey Crouch claimed that it was “not appropriate” to get involved.

During a passionate speech in Westminster Hall, Neath MP and former Welsh number one Christina Rees delivered a paper titled Squash and the Olympic Games for political discussion.

She said that the sport’s exclusion was a “complete mystery”, highlighting its international reach.

“We now have more than 50,000 courts in more than 185 nations, from the Arctic Circle to the bottom tips of South America and Australia,” she said. “It is a genuinely global sport played by millions around the world.”

Rees lamented the process squash had been through to try and become recognised as an Olympic sport, claiming that it had been an “uphill task”. While it looked likely to be included for the London 2012 Games, a voting issue hindered its progress.

It was also considered for Rio 2016, but lost out to rugby 7s and golf, while Tokyo 2020 chose to include baseball/softball, karate, climbing, surfing and skateboarding at its expense.

Rees added that squash would be “inexpensive” to introduce at an Olympic Games and asked the sports minister to “pledge her department to support squash at grassroots and elite level”.

While Crouch agreed that Olympic inclusion would be a “great showcase to help grow the sport further” she conceded that it was “inappropriate” for national governments to become involved in the process of lobbying for individual sports. The responsibility for including sports, she added, was for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The minister called on national and international governing bodies to continue making the case for inclusion, and highlighted the government’s support for the sport through Sport England funding and UK Sport support. Over the 2013-2017 cycle, England Squash has received £13.5m (US$17.8m, €16.2m) in grants from the former.