Could we be set for a season of sporting disruptions?

Protests at sporting events have made considerable headlines in recent days, the latest of which came at the Crucible in Sheffield last night, when anti-fossil fuel protesters interrupted the World Snooker Championships.

Action was suspended after a member of the 'Just Stop Oil' protest group threw orange dye on one of the tables in play, while a second protester was prevented from attaching herself to another table.

All four players in action at the time, including Northern Ireland's Mark Allen were escorted from the arena.

The protest was entirely peaceful, but that only became fully clear once the protest had been made.

The Ulster man admitted afterwards that he had been too engrossed in his match to fully take in what was happening, but he did express the obvious concern that it could have been worse.

"I was completely oblivious to what was going on," Mr Allen told Eurosport.

"But I'd say if you'd seen it unfold, like other people would have, I'd say it was daunting at times, because you don't know what's happening.

"They could have weapons, they could have anything really."

It was the second time in three days that a major British sporting event had been disrupted. Racing at Aintree on Saturday was also held up, when animal rights protesters tried to scale the perimeter fence at the Grand National.

Ahead of another massive summer of sport then, could we be set for a season of sporting disruptions?

Rob Hartnett, CEO of Sport For Business, feels big sporting event sports can, in ways, lend themselves to becoming targets for these types of demonstrations.

"The beauty of sport is that we know that it's live," Mr Hartnett said.

"We know where it is, when it is on and that it's going to be watched by a significant audience. So those