Featured Image Credit: Getty and BBC Sport
Topics: Snooker, Ronnie OSullivan, Saudi Arabia, World Snooker Championship
Alex Brotherton
Topics: Snooker, Ronnie OSullivan, Saudi Arabia, World Snooker Championship
Ronnie O'Sullivan has revealed how much money it would take for him to join a controversial breakaway snooker tour.
O'Sullivan is arguably the greatest snooker player of all time, having won the World Championship on seven occasions, the Masters a record eight times and the UK Championship a record eight times.
His success is intrinsically linked to the World Snooker Tour, the game's main professional tour.
Advert
However, the future of the WST is under threat thanks to a proposed new rival.
According to reports, leading players including O'Sullivan have been approached by backers from the Middle East proposing a breakaway circuit that would begin play as early as next season.
Though the WST has relaxed rules about players taking part in other competitions, the scale of a breakaway tour would make participating in both impossible.
Advert
Having already signed a contract to play in WST events in Saudi Arabia over the next three years, O'Sullivan would struggle to join a breakaway.
That said, The Rocket has admitted he wouldn't be against a breakaway similar to LIV Golf, which has attracted some of the world's best golfers away from the PGA Tour.
Ahead of his World Championship quarter-final match with Stuart Bingham, O'Sullivan said: "I would love to see a LIV-style breakaway, gosh!
Advert
"I wouldn't mind getting a phone call saying 'here, do you want 600 million to play for three years? I'd love that phone call, wouldn't you?"
When asked whether players should be allowed to play on the WST after joining a rival organisation, the 48-year-old replied: "I don't know. I don't get involved in it."
The 48-year-old added: "Each to their own. Everyone's got to do what they've got to do. I try not to get involved in it. I know what I want from the sport and I know what I'm prepared to do. What I need in return from it.
"And as long as I keep getting that then I don't mind playing. But everyone needs to make that up for themselves. We all have different positions in the game, different stages of careers.
Advert
"Working more might work for some people, working less might. It's not just always about money. The most important thing is our time. For some people it's money. It's whatever really."