Saudi Arabia's sports empire faces setbacks amid rising regional tensions
Snooker supremo Barry Hearn has admitted that 'Saudi is a problem' amid reports of plans to move a lucrative event to fellow Gulf region Qatar.
Saudi Arabia could be about to scale back its sporting empire due to conflict issues in the region, with LIV Golf's long-term funding uncertain and other events potentially under review.
Hearn said World Snooker owner Matchroom, which has a strong presence in the Middle East, was now looking at other regions, including China, for future events. Saudi Arabia currently hosts two snooker events but that could be reduced to one.
'Saudi is a problem,' said Hearn, the president of Matchroom. 'We don't know where that problem's going to lead to but we've got good influence there, particularly through the boxing, and all the other sports that we do, so we will be fine.
We can't interfere with what's going on at the moment. This is a terribly difficult time for the Middle East. Saudi, whether we're talking LIV tour or whether we're talking other Olympic sports, are looking to cut back, which is fine, providing we've got other places to go - which we do.
We can't interfere with what's going on at the moment. This is a terribly difficult time for the Middle East. Saudi, whether we're talking LIV tour or whether we're talking other Olympic sports, are looking to cut back, which is fine, providing we've got other places to go - which we do.
But what I do know in the meantime is that we will be talking about a new event in China. We will be talking about another new event in the Middle East. So on the law of averages, win some, lose some, but that's life.
