The upcoming Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters sees the sport take its next steps into the lucrative Middle Eastern market.
The new ranking event, boasting £2.3 million in prize money, begins on Friday with 144 players cueing up at the Green Halls in Riyadh.
There was already an invitational tournament held in Saudi Arabia earlier this year with Ronnie O’Sullivan emerging with the title and £250,000.
But this tournament ramps things up a notch further, with the Saudi Arabia Masters already being labelled as the calendar’s “fourth major” by the World Snooker Tour.
That automatic status of prestige is one of many controversial elements that are attached with this event.
Certain sections of fans have expressed disappointment and anger that WST has taken the game to the region at all.
Saudi Arabia has for years been accused of sportswashing, with other notable sports like golf, football, F1, boxing, and tennis already enjoying a prominent presence in the country.
Behind this is Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, which is regularly ranked as one of the worst in the world.
But the riches that have been presented to the World Snooker Tour have proved too tempting to ignore.
A whopping champion’s cheque worth £500,000 will be awarded to next week’s champion taking it on a par with the prize won by world champion Kyren Wilson at the Crucible Theatre in May.
Already in place is a ten-year agreement with Saudi Arabia, and there is the general sense that this is only the beginning with even greater monetary rewards to come.
For the players, it’s difficult to blame them for wanting to reap the benefits.
There have been complaints about prize money for years with players down the lower end of the rankings particularly at a disadvantage.
Here, there is finally an opportunity for bigger earnings that help to safeguard a living from the game.
All 144 players in the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters draw will compete at the venue and earn prize money, with first-round losers taking home £2,000.
Will most of them agree with the murky moral issues associated with regular life in Saudi Arabia? Maybe not.
Yet should they be vilified for seizing the golden opportunity that has been presented to them in what is, after all, their profession? Absolutely not.
Many have already expressed their excitement at participating in the upcoming new event, and the money that comes with it.
If snooker players want to speak out on the moral issues, then good for them, but they are not politicians nor activists and it isn’t their responsibility to enact that level of change in a society.
For two decades, snooker has regularly looked to China to host lucrative tournaments yet little is ever spoken on its similarly questionable human rights record.
A common comment on social media refers to China being “a snooker country” with lots of players on the main tour, making it a justifiable reason to go there.
That certainly wasn’t the case back in the mid-1980s when the sport took its initial steps into the country.
It took 20 years for a star player to emerge, when in 2005 a young Ding Junhui inspired generations of talent and a boom of popularity in the country that sees snooker still benefiting today.
Who’s to say that there won’t be a similar success story in the Middle East over the coming decades, whether it be Saudi Arabia or elsewhere?
A total of 17 amateur players from the Middle East region have been invited as wildcards to compete in this year’s Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
Perhaps what people fear the most – and understandably so – is the level of power Saudi Arabia will ultimately seize when it comes to its overall reach within the game.
Will it stop at just a couple of mega-bucks competitions on the annual calendar, or is the blue-riband World Championship destined to move there in the future?
The latter possibility, which as things stand appears to be about a 50/50 chance of happening, would be an extremely difficult thing for many to accept, and indeed forgive.
The World Masters of Snooker in Boulevard City a few months ago was a glitzy and dazzling affair with a plastic atmosphere and hardly any fans in the arena at times.
It would be almost inconceivable for the sport’s World Championship to be staged in such a manner, but all that remains to be seen.
For now Saudi Arabia will stage its first ranking tournament, and like any other the players will chase the riches and the glory.
“We need to break into new territories,” former world champion Neil Robertson said.
“We are getting more tournaments with more prize money – more ranking points and earning opportunities for all of the tour.”
“The fact that all the players will be out in Saudi Arabia from round one is pretty exciting. I can’t think of too many tournaments where we have done that before.
“I’m looking forward to that and I’m sure they aren’t going to spare any expense making sure it is a great experience for everyone.”
Featured photo credit: WST
Is there any player who has said anything about the human rights situation in SA? Are women allowed to play whitout a scarf? I couldn’t imagine if your were a gay snooker player to come to play there.
Maybe players can give 10% of their price money to Amnesty International or something.
So may questions and thought.
I am curious how many spectators show the first days. The wst site stated you had to book fast,hahaha.
The difference with Saudi Arabia compared to China is the direct alignment with their barbaric regime. Any sport that is held there is closely tied to the regime. Chinese events seem to be independently promoted from the State.
It would be nice to see players speak out. Lewis Hamilton has at least done that while still competing there.