Ronnie O’Sullivan has delivered his verdict on a possible snooker breakaway tour that could head to Saudi Arabia in the near future.
Both John Higgins and Mark Williams have hinted at retirement in recent weeks and that’s a concern for two of the tour’s elder statesmen.
O’Sullivan thrashed Jackson Page 10-1 in the World Snooker Championship yesterday – but his long-term future on the tour is uncertain.
The Class of 92 are still all producing the goods, with O’Sullivan in particular ageing like a fine wine and stamping his authority as the best to ever grace a snooker table.
As always with the World Championships, however, talk has turned to the longevity of the tournament being held at The Crucible.
Ahead of this year’s event and since it started last weekend, players have been quizzed on the future of the venue, with contrasting opinions.
Now, O’Sullivan has delivered his verdict on the notion that a breakaway tour could happen in the near future.
Ronnie O’Sullivan delivers breakaway snooker tour verdict
Well, it’s fair to say that O’Sullivan has been quite coy over his future on the World Snooker Tour.
On one hand, he’s suggested that he enjoys playing on the current tour – but in the same breath, he’s hinted that he might welcome fewer tournaments.
After reaching round two of the World Championships at a canter, he was quizzed on a possible breakaway tour.
He told snooker journalist Chris Hammer: “There’s talk that they might be going to another tour, so maybe they will be playing but maybe not on the WST Tour.
“Every player has a right to do what they’ve got to do, you know, we’ve seen it in other sports like golf.
“So I think they’ll be playing but maybe somewhere else you know. It’s just like any other job really, isn’t it?
“If you get a better offer you’re going to go. To some people it might not be more money, it might be a reduced schedule, everyone has a different mindset.
“I’m an open book, best offer, come speak to me, I don’t actually talk to people, I just like to play snooker but each sport is a business whether you like it or not.
“I will go wherever, wherever I feel like I’m looked after, wherever I feel value. To be fair, I am valued on this tour, I enter the tournaments where I get looked after, I go to Asia, and Saudi Arabia and have a great time there.
“I wish I could play more in the UK but if you’re going to play in a limited number of events, I have to choose the ones that carry the more points and the better tournaments.
“I want to play snooker, I want to be looked after and I want to be pampered. If anyone wants to pamper me, I’m your man.”
Breakaway tour would be seriously detrimental for snooker
As O’Sullivan suggests, people would still be able to watch the top players if they formed a breakaway tour but would it really be good for the game?
Clearly, snooker on domestic television would struggle, with any move to Saudi Arabia likely to mean pay-per-view stations showing the coverage.
It’s imperative that an agreement can be reached so that the likes of O’Sullivan, Williams and Higgins can remain part of the World Snooker Tour.
There is nothing wrong with having the odd tournament in the Middle East – as they do with tennis – but a complete tour akin to the LIV golf tour would be catastrophic.
Lots of good work has been done to get people domestically watching snooker in recent years – and now it’s imperative that the top players remain on the existing tour.
Over to you Barry Hearn…