The superstar arriving in Helsinki is a shareholder in a company that is suing the sport’s umbrella organization World Snooker.
12.1. 21:10•Updated 12.1. 21:20
A snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan dropped a news bomb on Friday when he announced his withdrawal from the Masters, one of the sport’s classic tournaments.
O’Sullivan, 49, is the tournament’s reigning champion, who was set to face a peer John Higgins in the opening round of this year’s competition in London’s Alexandra Palace.
O’Sullivan explained his withdrawal with health reasons. The news caused Finnish snooker fans heart palpitations, as O’Sullivan is scheduled to face Higgins in the exhibition matches organized at the Helsinki Messukeskus on January 25.
Acting as one of the organizers of the event Robin Hull told Urheilu on Friday that he received information from O’Sullivan’s camp that withdrawing from the Masters will not affect O’Sullivan’s visit to Helsinki.
A legal battle
The news didn’t stop there on Friday.
Moments after O’Sullivan’s withdrawal announcement, the Snooker Legends company published a statement on its X page.
O’Sullivan’s manager is behind the release Jason Franciswho is the founder and director of Snooker Legends, founded in 2009, in the limited company NST Worldwide, founded in September 2022.
In the press release, Francis says that NST has sued the umbrella organization World Snooker. Francis believes that the umbrella organization has acted in violation of competition legislation by restricting the players’ right to participate in the events they want.
NST is seeking damages of 10.2 million British pounds or 12.1 million euros from the umbrella organization for the abuse of its competitive position.
O’Sullivan is one of NST’s shareholders. British Business Register according to O’Sullivan, he was one of the leaders in the NST established on 14 September 2022, but he resigned from his position on the same day. The exact number of O’Sullivan’s shares is not public information, but according to the register, his holdings range between 25 and 50 percent.
British newspaper The Sun says O’Sullivan is one of eight players around whom a televised racing series has been built outside of the professional tour. In the rules of the professional tour, players must ask the umbrella organization for permission to participate in televised competitions that are not organized by the umbrella organization.
Sun says that according to NST, two of the four races in the planned series received the umbrella organization’s blessing. In addition to O’Sullivan, seven other top players have been linked to the series. They include at least four other world champions: the defending champion Kyren Wilson, Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson.
Unlike O’Sullivan, the aforementioned four stars play in the Masters.
Robertson, who made it to the Masters due to O’Sullivan’s withdrawal, rose from a 1-5 deficit to a 6-5 victory in the opening match played against Higgins on Sunday.