TSB - Ronnie O’Sullivan Statement

[ferret]

Moments ago this statement was put up on The Grove Leisure website. Ronnie O’Sullivan has decided to make good on his desire to take some time off from competitive snooker. He said today: “I have decided not to enter any tournaments for the time being including this year’s Premier League and forthcoming WPBSA ranking events. more .....

Click to read on TSB

[FOXMULDER]

Odd statement, a bit ambiguous.

[Neil Taperell]

I think we knew that this was coming though , He obviously does not fancy the 50 week tour ! . I see he still wants to play in China . Obviously can make a few quid out there in exhibitions , endorsements and personal apperances. So why not take in a few Tournaments at the same time .
Shame about the Premier League , it won't be the same without him . He is the Box Office draw and the event has aslo been a bit of a cash cow for him .

He has a family that is more important to him and i can see that .

[FOXMULDER]

Snooker without the World Champion - bit of a nightmare for Barry Hearn, from a marketing perspective.

[SnookerFan]

The most telling thing is he doesn't want to play in the Premier League. A tournament he loves playing, only enters once a week, makes ridiculous ammounts of money from and could win with his eyes closed.

I'd rather he do this than his usual messing around, pretending he's broken his back the night before the tournament starts etc...

[Neil Taperell]

I can see why hie did not sign the contract . I'm sure he would be fined for each event he failed to play in .

But you are right a headache for Mr Hearn ........possibly needs to sit down with him and draw up a schedule of events that he is prepared to play in . Much like what the top Golfers' do .

[lennon11]

I can see why hie did not sign the contract . I'm sure he would be fined for each event he failed to play in .

But you are right a headache for Mr Hearn ........possibly needs to sit down with him and draw up a schedule of events that he is prepared to play in . Much like what the top Golfers' do .

Agree totally,its wholey unrealistic to expect players to attend all events on a 50 week tour.the competitions being played without the world champion become somewhat meaningless or at least greatly devalued.if Ronnie was willing to sacrifice ranking points by not taking part in some tournaments he knows that he may drop out of the 16,but at least he was almost certain to participate in all the major comps.

[cueman]

So is this a case much like Hendry then whereby he is currently retired? His ranking won't be protected so by the time, or if by the time he decides to play again he could find himself way down the rankings and having to face the qualifiers? Obviously without signing the contract then WSA could decide to drop him from the game altogether. Sounds like more of a power struggle or a personality clash between him and Hearn than anything.

I know Ronnie was hinting at having time off but Hearn will not like this and he can't have one rule for Ronnie and another for anyone else. I bet if this was Joe Jogia saying the same thing he would lose his MT card tomorrow!

[LittleMissAlexa]

Agree totally,its wholey unrealistic to expect players to attend all events on a 50 week tour.the competitions being played without the world champion become somewhat meaningless or at least greatly devalued.if Ronnie was willing to sacrifice ranking points by not taking part in some tournaments he knows that he may drop out of the 16,but at least he was almost certain to participate in all the major comps.

he is certain this season as the world champion is seeded 2 in all events except the worlds where they are seeded 1

[Erwan_BZH]

Well, looks like Ronnie finally decided to act instead of talking but sure it's a consequent loss for the game, nevertheless....

[lennon11]

anyone think this may make sponsors take the matter up with hearn?

[ferret]

The reason for him not signing the contract is the new terms in the contract! the contract has slowly been changing to take away more rights from the players, where many players have spoken about their dislike to the new contract Ronnie is the only one to my knowledge not to have signed it this year but there are several players making waves about the recent changes in the new contract and we will see more about this later on in the season after the players have discussed this at the next WPBSA players meeting.

By Ronnie not signing the contract and entering onto the main tour this coming season it may actually send a wake up call to World Snooker and get the relevant changes made to the tour structure and contracts to bring the players back on side.

Dropping some PTC events, bringing back 1 or 2 events to the UK and dropping at least 1 event from China would make everybody happier but logistically this is a nightmare and possibly not possible financially with the lack of UK sponsors, rumor has it that Betfred.com may ditch The World Championships for a lesser Snooker event! this all comes from them being unhappy with this years World Championships.

[FOXMULDER]

Why were Betfred unhappy with this years WC?

[ferret]

At this point that is not for me to say, I am sure all of the reasons will come out in the end but I do not want to disturb the water incase Betfred and World Snooker sort their problems out.

[Terry Davidson]

I believe this is an opening gambit from Ronnie to Barry so Barry can re-think legislating that the players play in every event. To me, a 50-week schedule is pretty tough on the pro players and I think Barry could set a list at the start of each season on which tournaments they MUST play in (I would expect tournaments held in countries where they are trying to increase the profile of snooker) and allow the players to not enter some of the more minor tournaments and get some family time.

Let's see what Barry Hearn comes out with. A little funny though in that the players didn't have enough tournaments and now in my opinion there are too many, although with the schedule as it is now at least there will be no more tournaments coming along but I hope snooker can keep the tournaments and sponsors they have now.

Terry