Ronnie O’Sullivan once slammed the motives behind Britain and America supporting Saudi Arabia on the world stage in a resurfaced tweet from 2017. The Rocket has since become a key advocate of the kingdom and has even suggested moving the World Snooker Championship to the Middle East nation.
Yesterday, O’Sullivan lost in the quarter-final of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters but has described the tournament as the best on tour. On his first day at the competition, he spoke to the media wearing traditional Saudi Arabian clothes.
“Saudi Arabia has really raised the bar, this is the best event on the tour,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many happy snooker players, everyone is excited to be here, we want to compete, play well and put on a really good show for the Saudi Arabian fans.
He added: “The tables, the facilities, the venue that’s been put together – this tournament deserves to watch the best snooker ever seen. It really is that good.”
That, then, is quite the journey from implying seven years ago that Britain and America were supporting Saudi Arabia with money-motivated intentions. He posted on X on April 13 of that year: “Britain and America support Saudi Arabia cause there’s a few quid in it for the lads.”
The post was accompanied by several money emojis. A follow-up post went one step further by including three rocket emojis, two guns and an axe.
Only the year before, Mohammed bin Salman – who is heir to the Saudi throne – announced plans to improve the country’s economy by bringing professional sport to the Middle East. It was part of his Saudi Vision 2030, and has since seen investment in some of the biggest sporting projects on the globe.
Saudi Arabia has since invested in sports including football, boxing and tennis, and has announced a 10-year agreement to host the £2.3million Saudi Snooker Masters. Had O’Sullivan won the tournament this month, he would have banked a whopping £500,000.
In April, O’Sullivan signed a three-year ambassadorial deal to commit him to playing in every Saudi-based event during that time. Earlier this year, he backed moving the World Championship from its long-term Crucible home to Saudi Arabia or China, insisting the facilities and prize money would be vastly improved.
The seven-time world champion, who is no fan of the Crucible, said: “I think Saudi Arabia would be great [as a World Championship host]. They’ve got the resources and would do it great. If you’re going to take it to China, you’d have to take it to Shanghai. Or another major city like Shenzhen or Guangzhou.
“It’d be done properly. Courtesy cars will be laid on. Food will be there. Hotels will be great. Everything would be paid for. Prize money would be astronomical.
“The snooker becomes secondary. What are the facilities like? What’s it like for the fans? What’s the access like? You don’t need a 10 out of 10 venue. But everything else has to be right.”
