Seething Ronnie O'Sullivan unleashes on snooker's 'f***** up' model and claims WST tactic is verging on BLACKMAIL

Unhappy Ronnie O’Sullivan claims snooker bosses’ tactics to make players take part in the Northern Ireland Open were verging on blackmail.

And seven-time world champion O’Sullivan insists he could even skip the World Championship at the Crucible if the right exhibition offer came up in Asia. The issue of players’ freedom to enjoy bumper sideline paydays has erupted over the past 10 days and led to governing body warnings about legal action.

Mark Selby, John Higgins and Luca Brecel were among those to snub the Belfast event to play a big-money exhibition in Macau. That’s now postponed after World Snooker Tour pressure. And the Rocket is playing in a lucrative exhibition in Shanghai this week along with Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Jack Lisowski and Ding Junhui.

The WST originally refused to sanction that – before doing a U-turn. But O’Sullivan and Co were ordered to play in Northern Ireland and keep a media and social media blackout in Shanghai. Now O’Sullivan predicts further clashes with WST, as more players enjoy the big-money offers he’s had for 10 years.

O’Sullivan said: “It was almost blackmail to those playing in the Shanghai exhibition – to say you have to do this and do that. It would make most players just not want to play there so much. Most players would take these letters as a threat. These days I’d just say, ‘I’m not playing – what are you going to do about it?’ And I will always pay attention to my tennis elbow and my mental health.

“Get a decent promoter on board in the UK and stop treating the players like a piece of s**t. Do it properly. Or don’t get upset when players complain. WST will try and change the player’s contract and clamp down. But the more they do, the worse they might make it for themselves.