Barry Hearn unhappy on Mark Allen’s remarks about Chinese player: 2012 World Snooker Championship
Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen had high hopes before he started his campaign in the 2012 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield but things did not go according to his hopes and he tumbled down at the hands of China’s Cao Yupeng. Allen
could not swallow his defeat, especially because of the way he ended up losing to the Chinese cueman.
In his frustration, the Antrim potter uttered some offensive words and said that all Chinese are cheaters because Yupeng did not mention a blatant push during the game. However, Yupeng denied any push of the sort in the match. On the other hand, the World
Snooker Chairman, Barry Hearn was not happy the way Allen finished the proceedings in the Championship and he is very unhappy with what he said.
While speaking to the media on Allen’s remarks, Hearn said, “This is zero tolerance. We have the powers to do anything providing we've acted reasonably. To effectively accuse your opponent of cheating is looked on as bringing the game into disrepute.”
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), Jason Ferguson added, “Players have rules written in their contracts and they are not allowed to say certain things. If they do, they are in breach of tournament regulations and will come under
a disciplinary process.”
Meanwhile, the snooker governing body, World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has taken action against the Northern Irishman and has sent a letter to him. The association is expecting an explanation from him within 14 days. The WPBSA
chairman Jason Ferguson said that the organisation has taken it quite seriously because making such comments about a nation cannot be accepted. The organisation is very unhappy with Allen’s comments as they can quickly ruin all the hard work of gaining popularity
of snooker in these countries.
Ferguson further said that the potters are ambassadors of the game across the world and they should not say such things at any stage or cost as they put the game’s reputation at stake. If the players are making such comments, they are breaching the rules
and regulations of the tournament. It will be interesting to see what disciplinary action Hearn takes against Allen’s unfortunate comments.
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