LONDON – Promoter Barry Hearn has threatened to move the World Snooker Championship from its Sheffield home in favour of a rotation of host venues, potentially including Saudi Arabia.
The viability of Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre to stage the world championship came into question ahead of the latest edition of the tournament, which started last weekend.
Seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan suggested that it should be moved to Saudi Arabia or China in order to maximise profit potential.
Underlining the issues with the ageing venue, Iran’s Hossein Vafaei blasted conditions at the Crucible. He called it “smelly” and compared practice room facilities to playing in a garage after losing in the first round to Judd Trump.
The Crucible’s deal expires in 2027 and Hearn said that there should be no room for sentiment over the venue’s future.
Hearn, a former World Snooker chairman and current president of Matchroom Sport, told the BBC: “I am doing absolutely everything I can to stay in Sheffield and it takes two to tango – I’ll stay here while we’re wanted, and I think we’re wanted.
“But they’ve got to be realistic. We’ve said for the last few years we need a new venue that seats 2,500 to 3,000 people.”
Saudi Arabia’s growing interest in the sport has dramatically changed the landscape for discussions, with the first ranking tournament due there next season.
Hearn would have no qualms about taking the tournament away from the venue which has staged every world championship since 1977, and even proposed a scenario where it could be moved around the world on a rotational basis.
“Why should the tournament have one home and why isn’t the Crucible transported around the world to play one year in Saudi Arabia, one year in Beijing, one year in Sheffield?” he said.
“The Crucible has got a fantastic history and it’s been a massive part of my life, but we’ve got to live in the real world. There’s a price for everything, whether we like it or not.
“In any professional sport played by professional sportsmen, the first demand is prize money and they want to see it as big as possible, and we have a duty to those players.”
On how money drives sport, he added: “I believe next year we go through the £20 million (S$34 million) prize money. But you must never get complacent in your life and sit down and enjoy the luxury of saying ‘job done’.
“There’s never enough. It’s all about the money – get used to it.”
Back in the theatre, Chinese ace Ding Junhui was edged out of the world championship on April 24 as the world No. 7 fell to Jack Lisowski 10-9.
Ding, 37, trailed 5-4 after the first session on April 23 and then dragged the match into the deciding frame by winning two frames in a row the next day.
But world No. 17 Lisowski kept his composure in the last frame, firing in two sensational long range reds to seal the victory. AFP, XINHUA
