Ronnie O’Sullivan says snooker is in its “worst place ever” as he blasts the sport’s bosses in an explosive interview
With just a month before he begins his quest for a record-breaking eighth world title at the Crucible, the legendary Rocket insists an injection of prize money and more new ideas are crucial to saving snooker, which has been going through a rough patch of late.
The match-fixing hearing involving 10 Chinese players will begin midway through the World Cup, while Mark King was recently suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into irregular betting patterns.
There has also been criticism from players about the calendar and prize money, while Neil Robertson recently branded the WPBSA’s 2.5% levy on prize money as “absolutely insane”.
O’Sullivan was quoted in Sportsman as saying: “Listen, snooker’s in a bad place. It’s in trouble. Forget Turkey [Turkish Masters recently cancelled]. This requires at least another £50m a year just to turn it into a proper tour.
“If you look at the number, it’s bad. When you look at £10m in prize money for 25 events a year for 128 players, it never gets good. It needs to be at least tripled for it to work. Maybe you need some decent people like Liberty [in Formula One] or someone with a vision to bring it up to date.
“You look at the people actually running the game, they’re not the brightest sparks either. So you can’t see them digging their way out. But you don’t have to be Einstein. It’s probably the worst.” The sport’s image is now a bit like a pub sport.
“It’s probably worse than ever because of the betting scandal. There are a lot of players I know who are really unhappy and scared to speak up because they’re being fined. They are told that.
“The game has problems, if you look at the numbers it’s bad. But we all want the best for the game. I can’t do more. I’ve worn the sport quite a bit over the last 20-30 years. It’s not a player. It’s the sport, it’s not a mass sport.”
O’Sullivan went so far as to say that players should band together and say, “We don’t play until you listen to us.”
World Snooker responded by saying: “Last week we held a constructive meeting with the players, which unfortunately Ronnie was not able to attend, where we set out our vision for the future of snooker and addressed issues that are important to the players .
“Results were positive and players were encouraged by WST’s progressive strategy. WST works diligently in many of the areas that Ronnie brought up and achieves notable results. We’ve broken ticket sales records for most of our events this season, and our global TV and digital audiences are bigger than ever.
“Prize money for our UK events has increased since the pandemic began. Post COVID we have committed to return to China in 2023 and are optimistic about that prospect which would place our tour in the strongest position it has ever been.
“We work with the leading sports agencies whose clients include them First League, FIFA, Ryder Cup and The Masters. Our long-term strategy is based on world-class analytics and is data-driven. We would always welcome Ronnie sharing his ideas and discussing our plans and strategy directly with WST.”