Hearn will speak with lawyers over Allen attack

World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn has said he will seek legal advice following Mark Allen’s comments about his running of the sport.

Allen spoke out at the williamhill.com UK Championships in York on Monday, calling for Hearn to step aside and accusing him of reneging on promises and looking to “make money for himself”. The 25-year-old Northern Irishman also claimed Hearn’s attitude was one of “**** the players”, an outburst that has already brought him a referral to the game’s governing body, the WPBSA, for breaching tournament rules.

He could now be charged, but his review of Hearn’s governance of the sport may also have repercussions away from the table. Hearn said: “I’m disappointed. And while there’s a fabulous tournament going on I’d hoped we could concentrate on that instead of the comments of just one player. I’m also disappointed by the personal attack Mark has made on me with his comments that are slanderous and will be taking separate legal advice on the matter.”

Allen’s initial ire came over the reduction of frames at the UK Championships, which is regarded as the second-biggest event on the sport’s calendar. First and second-round matches have been cut from 17 frames to 11, while fans can now watch both at once after the partition that separated the tables was removed.

Hearn took over at the top of the sport 18 months ago after being voted in by the players, and has made a number of changes already, including increasing the number of ranking events by two and adding in another 13 tournaments that carry ranking points. Prize money has also gone up and the likes of Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams, both former world champions, have supported what the veteran promoter is doing. Other leading names have voiced concerns, though, with John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan questioning some of Hearn’s decisions. But 63-year-old Hearn, who also chairs the Professional Darts Corporation, Matchroom Sports and Leyton Orient FC, believes change was necessary. He added: “The ratings are up, ticket sales are 50 per cent up on last year, so the changes seem to be working for the improvement of snooker. Let’s face it, things had to change.”

Allen moved into the quarter-finals last night with a 6-2 win over Ali Carter. Much to the amusement of the assembled journalists, Allen turned up for his post-match press conference with his mouth covered by a piece of tape and initially sat silent for around 15 seconds. After eventually removing the tape, the Ulsterman appeared in defiant mood. Referring to his previous comments about Hearn, he said: “I don’t think I said too much out of line. Obviously I swore, which is bang out of order and I apologise again for that, but I still stand by the rest of the things I said. I think there’s a lot of truth in the comments that I made. I’ve had lots of criticism over the years and I’m not going to change that now just because I’m outspoken and speak my mind. Other players just don’t have the balls to do it.”

Allen will face Marco Fu, who beat world No 1 Mark Selby 6-3 last night. Earlier in the day, Ricky Walden moved into the quarter-finals with a surprise 6-3 win over Williams. He will play Murphy, who raced into a 5-0 lead against Martin Gould, but had to withstand a rousing fightback before winning 6-4.