Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen has managed to get himself into trouble while playing a tournament in China. Yes, Twitter was involved.
The Antrim cueman is in China to play in the China Open – funnily enough – but it seems he is not exactly enjoying himself out in the Far East.
He issued a number of tweets which, understandably, haven’t gone down too well.
First he tweeted:
He followed it up with: ‘Journey a nightmare. People are ignorant. Place stinks. Arena’s rubbish, tables poor, food is horrendous. Other than that I love China.’
Allen has since deleted the second tweet and clarified his comments a little.
He then issued a more defiant tweet, probably prompted by a rap on the knuckles from the snooker authorities.
The World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association chairman Jason Ferguson was also not best pleased.
He told the Daily Mirror: “Mark Allen’s comments are extremely disappointing considering that China is a great friend of our sport. There has been a massive effort from China to support our players and I am sure this is an isolated view from one player.
“Our players must understand that their views expressed in the public arena can have a catastrophic effect on the game’s development. These comments will now be reviewed by the WPBSA disciplinary committee.” We’re sure his use of the word ‘catastrophic’ was not intentional.
Anywa, Allen is no stranger to controversy. Just last year he swore at a press conference and then appeared at a follow up presser with tape over his mouth.
As one of the best young players in the game, Allen’s profile is growing but he does sound very fed up with how he is being treated. One to watch we think as the snooker season heats up.
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