Barry Hearn doesn’t blame the Macau Five for ‘selfish’ goals
The World Snooker Tour (WST) was thrown into controversy when a group of players, known as the Macau Five, chose to play in an exhibition in Macau, China while the Northern Ireland Open was held in Belfast.
The five players, Mark Selby, John Higgins, Luca Brecel, Ali Carter and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, felt they were free to do so, but WST insisted that playing an exhibition during a tour event would be in breach of their players’ contract.
Former WST chairman and now honorary president Barry Hearn had been bullish during the disagreement, telling the Mirror: ‘All of these players going to Macau are just selling their souls and themselves down the river for an extra few quid.’
Barry Hearn’s Sympathy
Now the situation has calmed down, Hearn sounds more sympathetic to the players involved, still suggesting they were being ‘selfish’ but saying he doesn’t blame them for it.
‘It’s really weird, I mean, obviously, they’ve become quite famous, the Macau Five. The media will make out it is a revolt against authority, but it really isn’t,’ Hearn told bettingsites.co.uk.
‘It’s just a question of, when you sign a contract, does it mean anything? The World Snooker Tour is really quite easy to understand. It’s 130 players under contract.
‘I think everyone’s quite selfish in life. I don’t blame them, I think it’s human nature. You have a situation where an offer came up to some players to earn more money.
‘We’re happy for people to play in other events, providing it doesn’t clash with something where the WST have made guarantees to sponsors, to broadcasters, to fans.
‘We have to insist on those rules. The Macau Five will get their few pieces of silver at some stage and good luck to them, as long as they follow the rules, we’ll get on fine.’
The International Championship
The World Snooker Tour is back in China this weekend, with the International Championship starting in Tianjin on Sunday, with the Macau Five all involved.
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