Mark Allen fined over using foul language in press conference during 2011 UK Championship
Northern Ireland’s professional snooker player, Mark Allen has been fined £250 by World Snooker after he used foul language in a press conference during the 2011 UK Championship at the York Barbican Centre. The Pistol spoke about World Snooker Chairman,
Barry Hearn and the changes he made in the formats of some snooker tournaments.
The Northern Irishman was not happy with the format changes made by World Snooker on the advice of Barry Hearn and felt that Hearn is trying to highjack the game completely. He feared that the format changes will kill the charm and significance of the game
and the players, along with spectators will not enjoy the sport anymore.
The World Number 10 was present at a press conference after his first-round match victory over Adrian Gunnell and spoke about Hearn's attitude towards the players. The 25-year-old commented that in his opinion, Hearn is not pleasing many players because
he did not fulfill the promise he made.
He told the media that when Hearn was appointed as the Chairman, he said that he would never touch the Triple Crown, the World Championships, UK and Masters, and would not change their formats but he did change the UK Championship format. He became a bit
harsh when he said, “the players don't really matter, so **** the players”.
Hearn, in reply to the Pistol’s comments, said that the boy is making silly comments. He also warned that the World Snooker’s Disciplinary Committee will deal with the issue. Allen and Hearn then met and things were settled between both men, but the World
Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) committee investigated the matter and came to a decision.
The WPBSA released their statement on the matter saying, “Mark Allen has been fined £250 and warned as to his future behaviour by the disciplinary committee of the WPBSA. This was for swearing at a live press conference during the williamhill.com UK Championship
in York in December 2011.”
The snooker governing body has also confirmed that the Antrim potter has accepted the punishment and has already apologised for attitude in his post match press conference.
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