World Snooker Championships venue Crucible ‘smells really bad’, says Iran star, who wants bosses to learn from China
- Hossein Vafaei loses first-round clash 10-5 to Judd Trump and lashes out at the conditions
- Vafaei says he wouldn’t want to return to Sheffield venue: ‘I feel like I’m practising in a garage’
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Iran’s Hossein Vafaei said on Sunday that the Crucible Theatre venue for the world snooker championships “smells really bad” and the tournament could learn from China, where players were “treated like stars”.
Vafaei lost his first-round clash 10-5 to former champion Judd Trump and lashed out at the conditions at the arena in Sheffield that has hosted the event since 1977.
“Everything’s so bad – if you ask me if I want to come back here, I would tell you no way,” he said. “Forget the history, you want to go somewhere really nice as a player.
“You walk round the Crucible and it smells really bad. You go to other countries, and everything is shiny. But here it’s completely different.
“The practice room – do you see anything special? I feel like I’m practising in a garage.”
World No 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan has already suggested the world championship be moved to Saudi Arabia or China when the existing deal expires in 2027.
“At the Crucible, you have to plot your way in and around the event – when to practise, where to eat,” he said recently. “If you had the choice, you would choose a place where everything is laid on for you.
“And in some of the events in Saudi Arabia and China, it’s a lot easier. Listen, Sheffield has the history and that will never change.
“A lot of people say: ‘what about the history there?’ Come on man. History is getting rewritten every day really. I think if Eddie [Hearn] and Barry [Hearn] and World Snooker decide it is right to take it to Saudi, then why not?”
Vafaei echoed some of O’Sullivan’s complaints regarding the better treatment received by the players at tournament staged in Asia.
“Look at the China venues, how fantastic they treat the players, a red carpet and an opening ceremony,” Vafaei said. “The players are treated like stars.
“But here, no one looks after the players; before and after the match no one cares who you are. If they don’t want to lose the Crucible, invest some money, make it shinier, make it nicer, make it more [luxurious] for the people.
“If they make it cleaner and nicer, people will enjoy it.”
The World Snooker Tour responded by saying “the Crucible is a historic venue and there are limitations given the size of the backstage areas”.
They added in a statement: “We work with the Crucible to make it as welcoming as possible for players.”
