Ronnie O'Sullivan demands major change to snooker World Championship "circus"

Ronnie O’Sullivan has demanded that Sheffield’s Crucible be stripped of the Snooker World Championship and the tournament be moved to Saudi Arabia or China.

The Crucible is the traditional home of the sport’s showpiece event and has a contract to host the tournament until 2027. O’Sullivan has won seven world titles at the historic venue and is aiming for his eighth this year.

But The Rocket has now launched an extraordinary attack on the Crucible’s facilities. He has taken aim at the benefits offered to the players taking part compared to foreign venues.

O’Sullivan has insisted that the facilities in Sheffield are now so dated that it is time to move the World Championships to somewhere else. The snooker icon has instead tipped Saudi and China as the perfect location.

“I think definitely it’s a wise decision to take it away from Sheffield. Still have a tournament there. Why not? But just not the world championship over 17 days. It’s a massive circus and you need a massive space to accommodate it,” he told The Sun.

“I think Saudi Arabia would be great. They’ve got the resources and would do it great. If you’re going to take it to China, you’d have to take it to Shanghai. Or another major city like Shenzhen or Guangzhou. It’d be done properly. Courtesy cars will be laid on.

“Food will be there. Hotels will be great. Everything would be paid for. Prize money would be astronomical. I know at the Crucible you get nice tea there, you might get lasagne if the guys are cooking. But that’s about it.

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SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – MAY 02: Ronnie O’Sullivan of England celebrates with the trophy after winning the final match against Judd Trump of England on day 17 of the Betfred World Snooker Championships 2022 at Crucible Theatre on May 2, 2022 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

O’Sullivan played in the Saudi capital of Riyadh just last month and has frequently played in China. Fellow star Judd Trump haspreviously spoken in favour of the atmosphere created in Saudi venues, following the Saudi Arabia World Masters of Snooker.

“It’s a really good atmosphere, especially when I walked in. I was very happy out there, they (the crowd) brought the best out of both of us, so it’s a lot better than a lot of atmosphere we play in the UK,” he said.

“I can’t wait, I’m absolutely thrilled to still be in the event, it’s kind of just a free shot. It’s a pleasure to be here playing in another big event and I can’t wait to get going.”

But the Middle East state’s latest venture into sport has been slammed by human rights groups. When the deal for a competition in Saudi was announced, Amnesty International’s UK’s Economic Affairs director Peter Frankental insisted the state was merely sportswashing.

He said: “It was just a matter of time before Saudi Arabia’s huge sportswashing machine sucked in snooker along with almost every other major world sport. If the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump play in Riyadh, they shouldn’t hesitate to speak out about human rights.”