Snooker supremo Steve Dawson has slammed Ronnie O’Sullivan for slating the state of the game earlier this week.
World Snooker chairman Dawson took the reins from Barry Hearn two years ago during the Covid period that hit the sport hard. But senior management were enraged by world No. 1 and seven-time world champion O’Sullivan’s attack on the way the game is being run.
O’Sullivan claimed snooker was “in the worst state ever” and the situation was “beyond a crisis,” telling the players to go on strike and calling for at least another £20million in prize money. And three weeks away from the World Championship at the Crucible, Dawson has gone on to brand O’Sullivan “disrespectful” to management and players, and failing to be a good ambassador.
Dawson, who also insisted O’Sullivan’s explosive comments were “misguided,” also jibed that O’Sullivan would have won even more than £7m under the current regime if he had played more. He said: “Ronnie is a fantastic player and a legend of our sport. But sometimes his misguided comments go too far. I feel it’s necessary to respond to some of the damaging remarks he made to the press this week.
“Firstly, Ronnie has never attended a players’ meeting or engaged with us to discuss his opinions. There are three formal levels where he can provide feedback: through the WST Board, through the WPBSA Players’ board or through players’ meetings, and he has not engaged through any of these channels.
"He also has my number and is welcome to speak with me directly. 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 Rory McIlroy or Roger Federer.
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“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.
“In 2010, the commercial rights of snooker were awarded to Matchroom Sport. In that time, snooker has grown exponentially around the world. At the time there were six tournaments and total prize money of £3.5 million.
“This season there are 21 events. Prize money reached £15 million before the pandemic and is currently at £11 million. The dip since 2019 has been principally caused by the inability to stage tournaments in China whilst the country was in an unprecedented lockdown.
“During the time that we have run the tour, Ronnie has earned £7 million in prize money, including the £500,000 top prize at the World Championship last year. No doubt, with his talent, it would have been a lot more had he chosen to play in more events.
“There are many individual sports, including popular Olympic sports, where the levels of prize money are significantly lower than snooker. His comments too often are disrespectful to snooker’s dedicated management, the sport’s commercial and venue partners, and to his fellow players.
“In the past he has described lower-ranked players as ‘numpties’, but they love the sport just as much as he does, and our role is to give them opportunities to compete. He suggested that players should go on strike – but why? That certainly won’t drive new revenues.
“He also claims that players are frightened of being fined for giving their opinions. The number of players fined for comments made in the media is tiny. Generally they are given much more freedom than athletes in other sports because we want them to engage more with the media and the fans.”
