Barry Hearn issues World Snooker Championship ultimatum after Ronnie O'Sullivan complaint
Barry Hearn has discussed the prospect of moving the World Snooker Championship to Saudi Arabia.
Snooker supremo Barry Hearn told Sheffield City Council to build a new Crucible Theatre or they are running the risk of losing the World Championship. Ronnie O'Sullivan has already called for the sport's showpiece event to be held in Asia, dividing opinion between players as complaints have been raised over the conditions this week.
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The Crucible has a contract with the World Championship to host the event until 2027, but O'Sullivan suggested that it would be for snooker's benefit if either Saudi Arabia or China win the rights to the tournament moving forward.
His comments have since been echoed by Ali Carter and Hossein Vafaei, the latter insisting that the current venue "smells" and does not cater to elite sport in a blistering rant following his first-round exit.
Hearn, founder and chairman of Matchroom Sport, has wielded a lot of power over snooker over the years and sat down with the BBC to discuss the prospect of the World Championship leaving Sheffield. He claimed that he wants to pledge the tournament's future to the Crucible, but only on one condition, that a new venue is built.
"Nothing much has changed," Hearn said in a rare update. "I am doing absolutely everything to stay in Sheffield. But it takes two to tango - I'll stay here while we are wanted. I know we are wanted by the BBC, I think we're wanted by Sheffield.
"But they've got to be realistic and we have said for the last few years we need a new venue that seats 2,500-3,000 people because I am fed up of getting letters from people all over the world asking how they can get a ticket. I'm looking to Sheffield to come to the party and if they do, we're staying. And if they don't, they're really saying to me 'We don't want you'. So it's not really my call.
"Trust me, money has the edge every time. We live in the real world, if there are deals out there that are going to change people's lives and increase profitability, there's not really a choice to make."
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When quizzed further by host Hazel Irvine and pundits Steve Davis and Ken Doherty that the finances involved are not the only factor at play, reminding Hearn that the Championship has been held at the Crucible to huge success since 1977, the 75-year-old remained steadfast in his response.
"The Crucible has a fantastic history, it has been a massive part of my life. But we've all got to live in the real world," he added. "There's a price for everything in today's world whether we like it or not.
"But I don't like it and I want to stay here. I can't do any more than say but I need help, I need a reason to stay here. I can't be more loyal to Sheffield than I have but everybody needs to pull in the right direction."
