Gutted Barry Hearn confirms Masters will be without fans due to Tier Four coronavirus restrictions
BARRY HEARN insists the new Tier Four restrictions will force snooker to play next month’s Masters behind closed doors.
The game has been confirmed by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden as one of the elite sports that can continue to stage tournaments without a crowd.
But though London’s status could change before, the prestigious invitation tournament must be make its decisions by Monday regarding the event’s organisation.
Until last week, tickets were being sold with a capacity of 1,000 per session at Alexandra Palace – but those fans now look set to be disappointed.
And an angry Hearn says the late decisions and continually changing landscape are ‘a mess’ having already been ‘burned’ at snooker’s World Championship in August and the PDC darts this month.
He said: “It is a mess. If you had asked me about the Masters two days ago I would have said, ‘All systems go’.
“Suddenly now, realistically, we have a problem. It is because of all the things we have to organise.
“It is like this whole thing is taking great pleasure in kicking me in the nuts. Every time I spend a load of money, there is no payback.
Even if we come out of whatever tier we are in now – which they are making up as they go along – I can’t see crowds back until January.
Barry Hearn
“We had the snooker at the Crucible, half a day before they changed their minds on crowds. The darts, all of a sudden after one day with live crowds – gone.
“These things cost a lot of money just to get the venues ready for the admission of people.
“We have a final meeting on Monday but this is not a two-minute thing and my recommendation will be to stage the Masters behind closed doors.
“Even if we come out of whatever tier we are in now – which they are making up as they go along – I can’t see them welcoming crowds back to sport until early January at least.
“But I have to make decisions on Monday about things like tiered seating at Ally Pally, structure, entrance of fans, Covid rules for them… It is actually more efficient to do it behind closed doors.
“I can’t leave those decisions until early January, I have to make them now as it’s a three-week order and build.
“We as an organisation have been burned twice already at the Crucible and now the darts World Championships.
“We don’t get any payment from the government, even as a pilot scheme – I’m not moaning about that, just stating a fact.
“If it’s going to be a choice between a maybe and a definite, I’m better off opting for the safe option so I’m pretty sure there won’t be crowds.
“We had sold a number of tickets, and this thing runs into a lot of money overall. We lost £2.5million at the Crucible, maybe £4m at the darts, and the Masters £750,000.
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“The only overriding thing that is good still is that although we come behind that great sport of breakdancing in the Olympics, we are recognised as an elite sport here.
“That has just been confirmed by Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State, and we can continue to put on professional tournaments behind closed doors.
“How quickly we return to any kind of normality with the crowds I don’t know, but I am thinking the Crucible for the World Championships next April.”