• We should be given a chance on global platform, says WPBSA • Host cities may be allowed to include new sports on one-off basis

In a move likely to provoke a fresh wave of pub debate about what makes a sport a sport, snooker has launched a bold bid to be included in the 2020 Olympic Games.

After the International Olympic Committee introduced rules that will allow host cities to be more flexible and bring in new sports on a one-off basis, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has said it will lobby hard for inclusion in Tokyo.

The last sports to be admitted to the Olympic programme were golf and rugby sevens, which will be part of the Rio 2016 Games.

Amid a confusing and convoluted process in 2013, wrestling retained its Olympic status in the face of challenges from squash and other sports.

However, as part of the IOC president Thomas Bach’s 2020 vision process, host cities may be allowed to include at least one extra sport as a one-off.

Baseball is one of the favourites, given its popularity in Japan, and squash will have a strong chance but the WPBSA chairman, Jason Ferguson, said snooker deserved a place in the Olympics. Originally the idea was to lobby for inclusion in 2024 but plans have been brought forward.

“Snooker has grown at unprecedented levels in recent times and it has been our belief for some time that we should be given our chance on the ultimate global platform for sport,” Ferguson said. “In 2001 we delivered, with great success, our sport to the International World Games in Akita, Japan, a programme which has continued to this day. Today we strongly believe that cue sports has a very powerful case for inclusion in the Olympics in Tokyo.”

He said the game was watched by nearly half a billion people worldwide and played in more than 90 countries. Including other cue sports under the World Confederation of Billiard Sports umbrella, that rises to about 200 countries.

“The Olympics brings together the most skilled and dedicated athletes on the planet. There are few sports which can match the skill and concentration of snooker; our players are pushed to their limits in mind and dedication,” Ferguson said.

Snooker’s lack of equality when it comes to the profile of female competitors – a key consideration for the IOC – may count against it.