The innovations coming into effect this week include a newly tiered PSA World Tour and the launch of the PSA Challenger Tour.

The Challenger Tour will be launched to create a strong identity for lower-tier tournaments and will feature aspiring youngsters working their way up the PSA world rankings.

As part of the new tour structure, the PSA have also formed the WSF and PSA Satellite Tour in partnership with the World Squash Federation (WSF), designed to ease the transition from world, regional, national and junior tournaments to professional squash.

In addition, the creation of a global ranking system for under-19 and under-17 players will create a pathway for the best up-and-coming juniors from across the globe.

The PSA has also announced that a record level of prize money was available on the PSA World Tour during the 2017-2018 season, with total financial compensation reaching $6.4 million (£4.9 million/€5.5 million) - an 11 per cent increase on the previous season.

The pay gap between female and male players dropped by almost a third last season, with total prize money on the women's tour totalling $2.59 million (£1.9 million/€2.2 million) - a 31 per cent increase compared to 2016-2017 - while the men's has increased to $3.82 million (£2.9 million/€3.3 million).

This trend is reflected in both the men's and women's top earners.

The top earning female player on the PSA World Tour earned $218,814 (£168,000/€189,000) last season - a 93 per cent increase since the PSA and Women's Squash Association (WSA) merged in 2015 to create a unified governing body.

The top earning male player earned $278,231 (£213,000/€240,000) last season, which has increased 72 per cent over the past three seasons. 

There have also been vast prize money increases for the world's top 25 ranked players across both the men's and women's tours during this period, with average earnings rising by 37 per cent in the men's and 63 per cent in the women’s.

"We are delighted to officially begin using our new tour structure and are confident that it will have a hugely positive impact on the growth of professional squash," said PSA chief executive Alex Gough.

"A record prize money total of $6.4 million was on offer during the 2017-2018 season - an 11 per cent increase on the previous season - while memberships are at an all-high, with over 900 registered members of the PSA.

"We are confident that the changes to our tour structure will help us continue along the same trajectory."

PSA tour director Hannah Ridgard-Mason said: "These changes will help us to market the PSA World Tour as the sport's pinnacle, while the introduction of the PSA Challenger Tour and WSF and PSA Satellite Tours will enable us to increase earnings and playing opportunities for up-and-coming players, in addition to giving them a natural pathway to the PSA World Tour."

The world's greatest players will continue to compete at the sport's most prestigious tournaments on the World Tour - such as the PSA World Championships and PSA World Tour Finals - and prize money will range from $47,500 (£36,500/€41,000) to $1 million. 

Prize money on the Challenger Tour ranges from $5,500 (£4,200/€4,700) to $28,000 (£21,500/€24,000) and the tiers will be PSA Challenger Tour 30, 20, 10 and 5.

A round-robin format will be available for use at Challenger Tour 5 tournaments throughout the 2018-2019 season.

By the 2022-2023 season it is envisaged that the World Tour will feature up to 35 tournaments for men and women.

New tournament tiers have been created on the World Tour.

The first PSA World Tour platinum tournament will be the US Open Squash Championships in October, while the China Open will be the first World Tour Gold event in September.

The women's Oracle NetSuite Open later that month will be the first World Tour Silver event, while the prestigious Carol Weymuller Open, which takes place in October, has the honour of being the first-ever PSA World Tour Bronze tournament.

World Tour events held on all-glass courts will be broadcast live around the world, while in September the Open International de squash de Nantes will become the first Challenger Tour event to be broadcast live.

On the World Tour, platinum tournaments will feature 48-player draws, and gold, silver and bronze tournaments will feature 24-player draws.

Tournaments on the Challenger Tour will range from 16 to 24 player draws, while qualification rounds will be scrapped on both tours.