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Ronnie O’Sullivan is “damaging” snooker with “misguided” criticisms and should aim to be “a true ambassador” for his sport like Rory McIlroy and Roger Federer, the sport’s chief has claimed.
He also labelled the sport “cheap” and said players are afraid to speak out.
“Snooker is bigger than any player,” World Snooker Tour chair Steve Dawson said in a statement on the WST website.
“Ronnie is a fantastic player and a legend of our sport, but sometimes his misguided comments go too far.
“He often compares snooker to golf and tennis, but I would challenge him as to whether for his part he elevates the sport and acts as a role model like a McIlroy or Federer.”
Snooker ‘bang in trouble’, says Rocket
In a wide-ranging interview, O’Sullivan, who will bid to claim a record-breaking eighth world title at the Crucible Theatre next month, launched a disparaging attack on those running the game.
He said snooker, which has also been engulfed by a match-fixing scandal in recent months, is in “a bad place” and “beyond a crisis” – and went as far as suggesting those in charge should step aside.
O’Sullivan criticised the reduction in the number of professional tournaments and prize money on offer and even advocated the idea of a player strike in order to effect serious change.
The 47-year-old claimed the people managing the game are “not the brightest sparks” and that snooker had “lost its charm” and become “like a pub sport”.
“If they can be honest enough with themselves, maybe the people that run the game need to say ‘we have taken it as far as we can’,” O’Sullivan said.
“If they really have the love of the sport they would hand it over to somebody else that had higher ambitions. This needs at least another £50m a year just to make it a proper tour.
“When you look at £10million prize money for 25 events across the year for 128 players, it’s never going to be good. It needs at least to triple that to make it work.
“I can’t do more. I have carried the sport pretty much for the last 20-30 years. It’s not one player. It’s the sport, it’s not a massive sport.
“At Wimbledon it is probably £50m for the one event. You look at golf, minimum first prize of £1.2m and the top players don’t even turn up for that.
“We are playing for the winner gets £80,000 most weeks and the runner-up gets £35,000. It’s bang in trouble. There are a lot of players I know who are really unhappy and frightened to speak out because they will get fined.”
‘Comments damaging and unfounded’ – Dawson
However, Dawson – who took over as the WST’s head figure after Barry Hearn stood down in 2021 – accused ‘The Rocket’ of failing to speak with the game’s leadership on the issues raised in his interview.
“Ronnie has never attended a players’ meeting or engaged with us to discuss his opinions,” Dawson added.
“There are three formal levels where he can provide feedback: through the WST Board, the WPBSA Players’ board or through players’ meetings, and he has not engaged through any of these channels.”
On the subject of players’ earnings, Dawson added: “Prize money reached £15m before the pandemic and is currently at £11m.
“The dip since 2019 has been principally caused by the inability to stage tournaments in China while the country was in an unprecedented lockdown.
“There are many individual sports where the levels of prize money are significantly lower than snooker. For now, we are more than holding our own for the nature and size of the sport.
“This season we have provided every player with a £20,000 income guarantee to help them pay expenses and develop their careers.
“We are striving to take snooker to a higher level, but we need the players to be ambassadors in public, and to communicate any concerns they have through the right channels.
“Comments like those from Ronnie this week are damaging to us as a sport – and they’re unfounded.
“If Ronnie took advantage of his own massive global popularity to be a true ambassador for snooker then he could work with us to drive the sport forward for his benefit and for the sport as a whole.”
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By Michael Beardmore
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