World Snooker responds to blackmailing remarks of England’s Ronnie O’Sullivan – Snooker news
A couple of days ago at the final competition of 2011 Rileys Future Stars, former three-time world snooker champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan, spoke some harsh words about snooker bosses claiming that he has been blackmailed by them. The game’s governing body,
World Snooker, has now responded to what he said and the response seems aggressive.
However, the sport's professional game body, World Snooker, run by Barry Hearn, has responded to O'Sullivan's controversial remarks by saying that there was no obligation to enter PTC tournaments, like the last season. All the players are free to choose
whether to play in a tournament. World Snooker also explained that the prize money on the snooker season has almost doubled as compared to the last two years.
World Snooker said in their recent statement, “We have a responsibility to provide events for all 99 players on the main tour and the PTC events offer playing opportunities for them. Players have the choice whether to enter each event. The top prize at each
PTC may only be £10,000, but the top 24 at the end of the series go through to the Grand Final, when the top prize is £70,000.”
They further added, “Two seasons ago there were only seven or eight events on the main tour calendar; now there are nearly 30 and total prize money has virtually doubled.”
The Englishman claimed he felt like he is being blackmailed by the world snooker administration. The Rocket said that the snooker governing body has been exploiting him by putting ranking points in all the 12 Players Tour Championship (PTC) events. The Wordsley
potter criticised the basic structure of PTC events and said that cueists from around the world are wasting their time and money.
The 35-year-old reckons that small events like PTC not only waste their time but also their money. The English cueist also does not like the prize money PTC awards to the winners, as he insists these tournaments have no victors because they are not rewarded
the way they should be.
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