Social media has been ablaze since World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) President Ishaun Singhโs appearance last week on the โDogginโ Itโ podcast on Windowโs Open in which Singh defended recent threats and bans against players by several WPA member federations and hinted that further restrictions against player participation in specific events was likely forthcoming.
Following the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports (ACBS) ruling that barred Singaporean pool players from participating in the recent Formosa Cup in retaliation of a non-sanctioned English Billiards world championship staged in Singapore in 2022, the Polish Billiard Association informed its players that they were restricted from playing in the Matchroom World Nineball Tour Asian Open in October.
Singh doubled down on the WPAโs approach to its ongoing sanctioning feud with Matchroom by saying, โWeโre going to a General Assembly (Oct. 7 in Qatar), and one of the items will be the enforcement of rules that we have where if a player plays in non-sanctioned events, they wonโt be welcome in WPA events.โ
According to Singh in the โDogginโ Itโ podcast, the WPAโs hardened stance is in large part a response to Matchroom player contract for the Asian Open which includes the following:
โFollowing completion of the Event, the Player shall not be entitled to participate in any 9-Ball event not forming part of the World Nineball Tour without the prior written consent of Matchroom (not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed.)โ
Billiards Digest reached out to Matchroom Pool Marketing Director Emily Frazer for her response to several points discussed during the podcast.
๐พ๐๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ค๐ข ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ก๐๐ช๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐?
Firstly, it is one thing having these clauses in contracts and another actually enforcing them. Our contracts updated following the launch of the WNT and our disassociation with the WPA (to confirm compliance with WNT event rules, integrity, disciplinary matters etc.) including an update to this clause more generally rather than event specific type. The clause is otherwise as per our previous contracts and contains nothing that isnโt market standard.
๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ค๐ค๐จ๐, ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ช๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ก๐๐ช๐จ๐?
We could ask the same of the WPA. The reality is it is the WPA who are threatening suspensions and bans so it us and more importantly the players who eagerly await the outcome of the WPAโs general assembly on 7 October. We will review the next steps thereafter but, in the meantime, letโs not forget that we are building a professional tour with more high-quality global events than anyone else. But in our case, bans have never been on the table. Itโs never been an issue.
๐ผ๐๐๐๐ฃ, ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ, ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ช๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐?
Itโs a standard way to have protection for the brand. What if another promoter started a team event the week after the Mosconi Cup using the same players?
๐ผ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ค๐ข ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค โ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃโ 9-๐๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ง๐ช๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ 9-๐๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฉ๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ.
Prevent? The more the merrier I say! Weโre working with over 20 different promoters in 2023 alone to put on WNT events, letโs face it there has never been so many 9-ball events in one calendar year: to state we are trying to prevent other promoters is factually incorrect.
Yes, we own the World Nineball Tour โ no one can own the sport or naming rights to a country title for that matter, but we welcome other promoters to our exciting journey. Organizing a professional tour means dedicating all resources, time, and efforts to doing what it takes, that includes working relentlessly and with likeminded promoters therefore producing more events.
We donโt ask for anything from promoters to sanction their events to the WNT and we are not unreasonable in our sanctioning of ranking events. We request events to be played with consistent rules (which are continually reviewed and monitored), formats and to run their events by the high standard we have set.
๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ค ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐จ๐ช๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐?
Your guess is as good as mine, but letโs face it the writings on the wall. For years there have been chancers throwing money at pool, none have lasted or managed to create a sustainable product like us. Now itโs finally happening, weโre organizing a professional tour and for some itโs about staying relevant and others itโs about supporting and getting on board. We acknowledge the importance and role of the amateur game, we support the process of growing the future champions, weโre even hosting Junior events that never existed before so of course we respect amateur pool. We do however have a business strategy and vision of making Nineball a mainstream sport and we are pressing ahead.
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ก๐ฎ, ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ/๐๐ค๐๐ญ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ค๐ข ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ผ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐?
Never say never, but at this stage weโve exhausted all options. We have progressed our plans with the launch of the WNT and WPNPC and our sole focus remains to build a huge platform for 9-ball pool, in the same way we have done to Darts and Snooker. We have a clear plan for our professional tour, we respect the amateur bodies but there is no need to interfere with the other. We are not looking for a fight, nor should they look for a fight with us; we can co-exist together.
For transparency (for the players sake), we tried to make it work: all we asked is that the WNT rankings be recognized as the official 9-ball rankings. It didnโt prevent the WPA from continuing with its own rankings or sanctioning 9-ball events that did not wish to form part of the WNT rankings. We guaranteed sanctioning fees payable to the WPA (not deducted from the players) and an annual increase in prize money for the players. The WPA prevented any form of constructive conversation from taking place by refusing to even engage in the discussions.
As I say, never say never, but we have now moved on.
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