Hossein Vafaei criticised the Crucible Theatre after shedding his World Snooker Championship first spherical match to Judd Trump on Sunday.
The Iranian, no stranger to creating controversial feedback, stated the venue smelled and in contrast the follow room to a storage.
Vafaei was talking within the instant aftermath of his 10-5 defeat to Trump on day two of the 2024 World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
The previous Shoot Out king lower a disgruntled determine within the area as he squandered quite a few alternatives to maintain the sport nearer.
He then took out his frustrations within the press convention as he launched a fiery tirade towards the Crucible.
“Every part is so unhealthy,” Hossein Vafaei stated. “For those who ask me if I need to come again right here, I’d inform you no method.”
“Overlook the historical past. You need to go someplace very nice as a participant. You stroll around the Crucible and it smells actually unhealthy.
“You go to different international locations, and the whole lot is shiny. However right here it’s utterly totally different. The follow room – do you see something particular?
“I really feel like I’m training in a storage.”
“In the event that they don’t need to lose the Crucible make investments some cash, make it shinier, make it nicer, make it extra luxurious for the individuals.
“In the event that they make it cleaner and nicer, individuals will take pleasure in it.”
The way forward for the Crucible Theatre, which has hosted the event since 1977, has been a supply of scorching debate this yr.
The World Championship is contracted to remain on the venue, which intimately can maintain simply shy of 1,000 individuals, till 2027.
Past that, there’s uncertainty as to the place snooker’s flagship and most vital competitors will likely be performed.
China has incessantly been rumoured as a possible new vacation spot, whereas Saudi Arabia has turn into a good larger risk in current months following the game’s blossoming ties with Riyadh Season.
Loads of different gamers have been questioned on the subject, with opinion divided.
“The place would I stand? I’ve executed an enormous U-turn,” Mark Williams advised Sporting Life on Friday’s media day on the Crucible.
“It’s my least favorite venue to play in, I’ve stated that from day one. However I’ve at all times stated when it will get down to 1 desk, it turns into one of the best area.”
“Years in the past, I assumed it’d be good if it left. However I’ve executed a U-turn, I believe it ought to keep right here.
“Sure, you possibly can take it to different elements of the nation and perhaps have £1 million for the winner in a two, three, or four-thousand seater stadium.
“However what number of occasions will we play in these stadiums of two,000, and there’s solely a few hundred there?
“This venue brings the ambiance and the closeness of it that no different venue may do.
“For those who took it elsewhere, or if you happen to knocked this down and constructed an even bigger one, it’s nonetheless not going to create the ambiance it does now.
“There’s solely 900 individuals in there, and it’s packed. It’s bought out each single yr, and if you happen to did transfer it, you’d by no means generate the ambiance that this place does.”
Ali Carter and Shaun Murphy have been among the many gamers who disagreed, nonetheless – stating that, though they love the historical past of the Crucible, it could be higher for the game to maneuver on.
“I don’t need it to depart right here. I would like it to remain ceaselessly, it’s very particular,” 2005 world champion Murphy stated.
“However it might probably’t keep as it’s. It’s our greatest occasion in our smallest venue.”
“On the earth we stay in, within the arenas we fill all over the world to hundreds and hundreds of individuals, that may’t proceed.”
“If you wish to develop an occasion,” Carter added, “into a really international occasion with larger audiences and higher hospitality, it’s acquired to maneuver to an even bigger venue for me.”
“I really like enjoying right here, it’s nothing towards the Crucible. However we’ve been right here 40-odd years.
“For those who do the identical factor for 40 years, you’re solely going to get the identical factor, aren’t you?
“It’s an ideal occasion. But when it does transfer, it has to have the possibility to construct momentum. Have a look at the Masters.
“That’s, arguably for me, an even bigger occasion than this occasion. The help it will get, the spectators, the venue is larger, it’s in London.
“Perhaps if it does go overseas, they’ll discover the appropriate residence for it and it might probably develop.”
The 2024 event, in the meantime, continues on Monday with Williams and Murphy amongst these in motion.
2024 World Snooker Championship Draw
Click on right here for stay scores and session occasions.
Spherical 1 (bo19)
Luca Brecel (1) 9-10 David Gilbert
Robert Milkins (16) vs Pang Junxu
Ali Carter (9) 7-10 Stephen Maguire
Shaun Murphy (8) vs Lyu Haotian
Mark Selby (5) vs Joe O’Connor
Kyren Wilson (12) vs Dominic Dale
John Higgins (13) vs Jamie Jones
Mark Allen (4) vs Robbie Williams
Judd Trump (3) 10-5 Hossein Vafaei
Tom Ford (14) 10-6 Ricky Walden
Zhang Anda (11) 4-10 Jak Jones
Mark Williams (6) vs Si Jiahui
Ding Junhui (7) vs Jack Lisowski
Gary Wilson (10) vs Stuart Bingham
Barry Hawkins (15) vs Ryan Day
Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) vs Jackson Web page
Spherical 2 (bo25)
David Gilbert vs Milkins/Pang
Stephen Maguire vs Murphy/Lyu
Selby/O’Connor vs Ok. Wilson/Dale
Higgins/Jamie Jones vs Allen/R. Williams
Judd Trump vs Tom Ford
Jak Jones vs M. Williams/Si
Ding/Lisowski vs G. Wilson/Bingham
Hawkins/Day vs O’Sullivan/Web page
Quarter-Finals (bo25)
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
Semi-Finals (bo33)
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
Closing (bo35)
TBC vs TBC
Featured picture credit score: WST
