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Ssb - lee doyle resigns from wpbsa board
Lee Doyle, the chairman of 110sport, has today resigned from the WPBSA board and declared his opposition to its chairman, Barry Hearn, and his future plans for the sport in a move which will precipitate (yet another) bitter battle for control of the sport.
He said: "I feel that my current position as a Director on the Board of the WPBSA is now untenable given that I am completely opposed to the proposals the Chairman, Barry Hearn, has laid out whereby the controlling rights in the Company are handed over to him.
“I do understand what Barry is trying to achieve in snooker and we have discussed this at considerable length. But on this one we agree to disagree.
“Barry has always run his own business and made his own decisions. However, I feel extremely uncomfortable where from my perspective decisions are being taken on contracts without me being consulted as a Board member.
“I do wish some of the players would look at these proposals from the business angle and see the bigger picture and the implications going forward for the game, rather than turning everything in to some kind of popularity contest between those they like and those they don’t want to listen to.”
I have no inside knowledge of the way the WPBSA board works under Hearn.
But I do know that 110sport were the leading cheerleaders of the Altium bid eight years, which bore many similarities to what Hearn is proposing now.
Ironically - or perhaps not - many of those against Altium are now for Hearn.
And so the self-interested, factional world of snooker turns once again.
Doyle's resignation and opposition to Hearn means the bright new future - announced only a fortnight ago - could already be dead in the water, and with it the new tournaments and broadcasting contracts that came with them.
That said, apathy may well yet be the winner. I understand only a handful of players have contacted Hearn since his letter went out, even though he supplied his mobile number and email address.
How many of them will turn up to the May 5 meeting to hear him out rather than rely on 'managers' to decide what's best for them?
Doyle, who manages a large stable of players, neglects to put forward an alternative to the Hearn plan. Perhaps he thinks the way the sport has been run for the last decade is the way things should continue.
However, I understand an alternative proposal is being put together by the very board members who the players rejected just four months ago.
The way things are going, though, the sport will have no credibility left regardless of who is in charge.
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He said: "I feel that my current position as a Director on the Board of the WPBSA is now untenable given that I am completely opposed to the proposals the Chairman, Barry Hearn, has laid out whereby the controlling rights in the Company are handed over to him.
“I do understand what Barry is trying to achieve in snooker and we have discussed this at considerable length. But on this one we agree to disagree.
“Barry has always run his own business and made his own decisions. However, I feel extremely uncomfortable where from my perspective decisions are being taken on contracts without me being consulted as a Board member.
“I do wish some of the players would look at these proposals from the business angle and see the bigger picture and the implications going forward for the game, rather than turning everything in to some kind of popularity contest between those they like and those they don’t want to listen to.”
I have no inside knowledge of the way the WPBSA board works under Hearn.
But I do know that 110sport were the leading cheerleaders of the Altium bid eight years, which bore many similarities to what Hearn is proposing now.
Ironically - or perhaps not - many of those against Altium are now for Hearn.
And so the self-interested, factional world of snooker turns once again.
Doyle's resignation and opposition to Hearn means the bright new future - announced only a fortnight ago - could already be dead in the water, and with it the new tournaments and broadcasting contracts that came with them.
That said, apathy may well yet be the winner. I understand only a handful of players have contacted Hearn since his letter went out, even though he supplied his mobile number and email address.
How many of them will turn up to the May 5 meeting to hear him out rather than rely on 'managers' to decide what's best for them?
Doyle, who manages a large stable of players, neglects to put forward an alternative to the Hearn plan. Perhaps he thinks the way the sport has been run for the last decade is the way things should continue.
However, I understand an alternative proposal is being put together by the very board members who the players rejected just four months ago.
The way things are going, though, the sport will have no credibility left regardless of who is in charge.
More...
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