Mark Selby has spoken out in support of Barry Hearn ahead of Wednesday's crunch WPBSA AGM.
Hearn has said he would accept the chairmanship of the governing body if Sir Rodney Walker is voted out by the players.
Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins are among the top stars supporting a vote against Walker while Steve Davis last week went on national radio to campaign for change.
Writing on his blog, Selby said: "The game certainly cannot get any worse than it is at the moment. If someone like Barry Hearn was to come in, that could be what turns around our sport.
"Hearn would not be seen as a risk as he has proven before what he is capable of. You only have to look at the darts to see what a difference he can make."
Selby, the world no.7, decribed the current set up of the professional circuit as a 'farce.'
He said: "Snooker is still a massive sport and the viewing figures for tournaments are always high. I know we’ve been hit by the credit crunch, but what I don’t understand is why snooker is in such a bad state.
"You look at a sport like darts and that is still surviving during these hard times, so why isn’t snooker? Why are we losing tournaments? Why are we down to just six this season?
"Maybe the people behind the scenes are just not working out, so maybe it is time for a change of key personnel, a breath of fresh air.
"The fact that we’ve got only six ranking tournaments this season is a farce. There is too much of a gap between each event – it’s been six weeks since the last tournament!
"We are classed as professionals but, really, we are hardly more than part-time. The gap is so big we could get another job in between tournaments.
"The money is still decent if you are a top-16 pro, you can expect to earn a healthy amount during the course of the season, even if you don’t perform particularly well.
"The ones I feel most sorry for are the players outside the top 64. They are classed as pros but they don’t get enough money to be able to survive. But for me it’s not about the money. All I want to do is play snooker, but it makes it hard to do that when there are only six tournaments."
Selby is hopeful that World Snooker's new tie-up with IMG will yield more tournaments, saying it "would undoubtedly be good for snooker and for the players."
You can read his blog entry in full here.
3 comments:
Interesting to see so many players speak out in favour of change as they are at the moment. Really seems to be a feeling that something is different this year and that they have had enough. Will be fascinating to see if that is reflected in Wednesday's result.
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Hi Dave
How are you! Every one is screaming for change and expecting Barry Hearn to come in with a slight miracle and save the game. The potential to be great has always been there for Snooker thinkers but was quashed by the generous hand outs “Forced” on the game by various tobacco companies.
Though the game of snooker is almost one hundred years old, it has never been “Up Graded” nor changed from the Joe Davis days. The pro’ players controlled management and demanded “No Change” while they could hold the tobacco people to ransom.
Mr Barry Hearn will not bring back “The Glory Days”, but he could if elected clear out the rubbish people that have been treading water, or was it whisky, for the last five years, and by reports, milking the system. Barry’s secret may be to tell the players “Its now pay back time” with suggestions they will not like. Mr hey you.
is there anyone actually supporting the staying of the board lol surely they must know they are gazumped Dave?
ps ur doing a great job ur a star.
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