Ebdon concern at Hearn’s snooker plans
After crashing out to Graeme Dott in the first round of the World Snooker Championship and slipping out of the world’s elite top 16 in the process, Peter Ebdon has expressed his concern at Barry Hearn’s plan to shake up the sport.
Hearn, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, has plans for his Matchroom Sport business to take a 51% share in the sport, with the remaining stake leftover to players and fellow promoters.
But 2002 world champion, Ebdon, is unhappy with Hearn’s company having such a stranglehold on the game: “You cannot possibly give control of the association away under any circumstances” said the Englishman.
“If I went to Barry Hearn and said, ‘Look Barry, you know that company that you’ve built up over 20-30 years, Matchroom, you don’t mind giving me 51% do you?’, he’d tell me where to go. It’s not really the done thing.”
“I want him to do a great job for snooker. He’s passionate about doing well and passionate about success. But I don’t think members should give up control of the membership for that.”
“I think he’s asking an awful lot for the players to hand over 51% of the commercial rights to World Snooker, which is worth millions of pounds each year.”
Hearn’s plans will be put to a vote in the near future.
In some ways he has a point. Although he seems a minority amongst the other players and snooker needs a kick up the arse right now
while Barry Hearn is a household name in sport, and the chances that he will turn around a failing snooker is good, it would be madness to hand him a controlling interest in the game, at the end of the day, he is not doing this to wear his old clothes out, his motive is money.
my dissappointment is in the likes of Ronnie Osullivan, when he gives the sport that has given him so much, the respect it deserves, things might get better.
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