More revelations came to light surrounding Ronnie O'Sullivan's semi-retirement from the game today.
WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson released a statement - in response to yesterday's comments from the four-time world champion - and it didn't pull any punches.
He quashed rumours that the contract forces players to compete in events, explaining they are free to play as and when they wish after they've signed up.
He added that the contract is in place to ensure all World Snooker players are treated fairly and that no-one, including world champion O'Sullivan, would receive bonus appearance money.
And, he also confirmed O'Sullivan is free to sign up to the contract at any point of the season.
Click here to read the full statement.
After a sharp intake of breath, this certainly made for interesting reading.
I'd like to make some clear points in reaction to this statement. It is absolutely correct that no player should be treated differently under the World Snooker contract.
As Snooker Scene blogger Dave Hendon sums up perfectly here, it is not the responsibility of World Snooker to pay players to appear in events. World Snooker has a pot of money to pay prize money to players based on their performances in various events.
It is an entirely different issue if individual sponsors decide to use added financial incentives to ensure the sport's top players attend their tournaments. This activity is commonplace across many top sports and is probably fair when you consider the ticket sales top players such as O'Sullivan help to drive.
Ferguson's statement comes across a little harsh towards O'Sullivan, in my opinion. While it would be naive to believe money wasn't a factor in Ronnie's decision not to sign the contract, I believe there were many more reasons as I outlined at length yesterday in the blog post below.
How do we know it's not solely about the money? Are you suggesting that Jason Ferguson was lying or expressing half-truths (which is an equally deceptive statement)? Are you supposed to believe certain fans on certain forums and not the WPBSA boss? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, we have just as good a reason to say it's all about the money as to say the exact opposite depending on the bias.
Funny though > this may prove to be an annoying subject for certain bloggers who usually run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
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ReplyDeletee don't know it's not about money but my opinion is that although it's a factor, I don't believe that's all it comes down to.
ReplyDeleteI'm not accusing Jason Ferguson of lying because I'm agreeing money is probably a factor, I just think his statement reads a little harsh on Ronnie but it's up to everyone to make up their own mind.
I think this decision has been coming a while because of many factors....
So you think Jason did say a half-truth. lol
ReplyDeleteGary, think: even if that were the way you say it is (Jason & Co not telling the whole truth), is the WPBSA supposed to tell us EVERYTHING because Ronnie (or any other player for that matter) IS telling us EVERYTHING (yeah, right!)? I wouldn't put my money on that! So what does it come down to? It comes down to what each of us WANTS to believe. It should be about credibility. It's about emotions. Human but little to do with notions like truth, fairness, justice, equal treatment. Or logic. lol
I'm not questioning the truth of the statement at all. It will all be facts and nowhere does it say it's all down to money but this is what a lot of people have read into it, so it must come across this way.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to believe anything. I'm just saying what I believe.