World Championship should leave Crucible ‘Smelly’, snooker star insists – as he claims training room is ‘like a garage’ and ‘nobody takes care of the players’
- The World Snooker Championship has been held at the Crucible since 1977
- The Crucible remains a hugely iconic British sporting venue based in Sheffield
- However, Hossein Vafaei criticized the venue and called for major improvements.
Snooker star Hossein Vafaei has criticized the Crucible and called for the World Snooker Championship to be moved.
The Sheffield Crucible is an iconic British sporting venue, hosting the sport’s most prestigious and longest running tournament since 1977.
However, calls have grown in recent years for a new venue for the flagship event, with seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan suggesting the event could move to China or Saudi Arabia instead. ‘future.
And Vafaei, who is Iran’s first professional snooker player, joined this side of the debate and hit the spot.
“Everything is so bad,” Vafaei fumed after his 10-5 first-round loss to Judd Trump on Sunday. “If you ask me if I want to come back here, I won’t tell you.
Hossein Vafaei criticized the Event and said the World Championship should be moved
The Sheffield Crucible is an iconic venue and has hosted the prestigious event since 1977.
However, Vafaei (R) – who lost to Judd Trump on Sunday – called the venue “smelly.”
“Forget the story, you want to go somewhere really cool as a player.
“You go around Le Creuset and it smells really bad. You go to other countries and everything shines. But here it’s completely different.
“The rehearsal room, do you see anything special?” I feel like I’m training in a garage.
Vafaei apparently echoed O’Sullivan’s calls for a move to Asia, highlighting the more enjoyable experience players get when competing abroad.
He added: “Look at the Chinese venues, how fantastically they treat the players, a red carpet and an opening ceremony.
“The players are treated like stars. But here, no one cares about the players, before and after the match, no one cares who you are.
“If they don’t want to lose the Crucible, invest money, make it shinier, make it more beautiful, make it more luxurious for people.”
Vafaei said “no one takes care of the players” and compared the training room to a “garage”.
Vafaei echoed Ronnie O’Sullivan’s calls for the tournament to be moved to Asia.
“If they make it cleaner and nicer, people will like it.”
However, the World Snooker Tour defended the Crucible in response: “The Crucible is a historic venue and there are limitations given the size of the backstage area.
“We are working with the Crucible to make it as welcoming as possible for players.”
The World Snooker Championship continues this week, with O’Sullivan beginning his campaign against Jackson Page on Wednesday afternoon, while the tournament runs until May 6.
