RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has claimed he could quit snooker due to a row over how much time players spend in China.
The seven-time world champion, 47, hit out at the World Snooker Tour after five players were threatened with punishments for choosing a Macau exhibition event over the Northern Ireland Open.
They were world champion Luca Brecel, four-time world champions John Higgins and Mark Selby, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Ali Carter.
The controversy was avoided when the Macau event was moved to December.
But O’Sullivan has remained furious with the situation, despite his comments potentially leading him to face disciplinary action from the sport’s bosses.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “I know that they’re going to throw the book at me.
“I can’t speak out. I’ve accepted that. So that’s the situation that I’m in. I’m under disciplinary.”
Snooker’s biggest stars, including O’Sullivan, can earn lucrative sums of money for appearing in East Asia.
The Rocket’s Shanghai Masters triumph back in September earned him £210,000.
While that is one of the biggest-earning events on the calendar, the top three most lucrative competitions remain in the UK – the World Championship [£500,000], UK Championship [£250,000] and the Masters [£250,000].
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The snooker calendar’s prize money across the entire season has also returned to around £14million after it dropped to between £10-11m during Covid.
But O’Sullivan, whose Amazon Prime documentary “The Edge of Everything” is released on Thursday, remains thoroughly unhappy with the situation.
He went on to add: “I have no option now. If I can’t go out and do what I need to do – which is play a lot in China – then I won’t ever play again.
“We are at a sort of crossroads now. There’s not enough here for me in the UK to justify the effort that I put in.
“When I go to China I play in great venues, great crowds, great prize money. And I love it.
“If that gets to the point where I’m not able to do that or I’m not allowed to do that, then I probably won’t play.
“I’ll probably go and play Chinese 8 ball (pool) because I still want to play snooker. I still want a cue in my hand.”
