Jason Ferguson wears a lot of hats.

Although he is the director of WST and chairman of the WPBSA, is it really feasible for Jason Ferguson to hold both positions?

I think I first saw Jason Ferguson when he came to Grimsby from Nottinghamshire to play a day game at the Ray Edmonds Snooker Centre in the late eighties or early nineties.

Ferguson made a good impact right away. For his age, he was a very polished and experienced positional player with a good technique. It came as no surprise that he had a highly successful professional career before quitting early in 2004. Undoubtedly, those initial impressions served him well even after his playing career ended. At the astonishingly young age of forty, he was elected Mayor of Ollerton and Broughton. This was likely made possible by his presidency of the World Professional, Billiard and Snooker Association, which he had held since 2001.

After Barry Hearn took over as owner in 2010, he was re-elected, and in 2022 it was announced he would hold the post until 2026.
We wonder, given Ronnie O’Sullivan’s accusations and the way his press conference was suppressed, what Jason Ferguson’s current status and place in the sport are.

We are aware that Jason Ferguson will have served as WPBSA Chairman for 25 years by 2026.

 

What is the role of the WPBSA chairman? Ferguson’s responsibility in the WPBSA dispute is to oversee and defend the interests of the players, who hold the company’s shares. The WPBSA is also the organization that currently governs the 128 professionals. They are in charge of overseeing the sport’s administration and rules.

According to my post from March 8th, “Profit Increase of 150% for World Snooker shareholders in 2020/21,” WPBSA owns a 26% stake in World Snooker Holding Limited.

To safeguard the players’ interests and provide them the power to accept or reject any changes to World Snooker’s ownership, that profit share was established at the time of Barry Hearn’s takeover in 2010 at a rate of 26%. One more need was that Jason Ferguson continue in his capacity as chairman.

Having recognised who, I once briefly knew as a snooker professional, we can now see that Jason Ferguson has resided in his role of chairman or chairperson of the WPBSA for over twenty years.

That provokes certain questions, as being a chairman is not really a defined career and Ferguson’s renumeration in the role can only be described as modest by today’s standards.

 

Ferguson is thought to have had a major impact on the development of snooker in the Far East (China) prior to COVID-19. He also clearly had experience acting as a commercial director, which begs the question of whether finder’s fee compensation was appropriate in these circumstances.

It should be reasonable for all members to expect to benefit from such excellent work in advancing the sport. This implies that, in order to be truly transparent with the WPBSA players, all business interests pertaining to snooker must be disclosed.

The professional snooker community is currently experiencing significant hostility, thus it is reasonable for the players to seek greater transparency from the top of the game. The ruling body’s current behavior seems to be masked by smoke and mimics society.

 

Never before has that culture been more apparent than it was on March 15, when World Snooker hosted a short-notice players’ meeting in Leicester to discuss shareholder payouts among other topics. Zoom links were not permitted for absent players or their representatives, and there is no excuse in this day and age for not providing them.

The second aggravating instance of World Snooker’s lack of openness was when an article on March 15th used my betting knowledge to investigate Mark King’s suspension.

My sources tell me that despite WST’s decision to notify everyone—including the player—at the last minute on March 18, the day before his scheduled match at the WST Classic, despite my knowledge and connections in the betting sector making it evident that something was going on.

Is it possible that the remarks made by Ronnie O’Sullivan during his press conference have ignited a process that will prevent snooker from being even more engulfed in crisis and that a lack of transparency would only exacerbate the situation?

Time will tell, but in the meantime, the professionals who depend on the diminishing prize pools for their livelihood would do well to arm themselves with information regarding whether their chairman’s mandate is currently being met contemporaneously, allowing them to take control of their own destiny.

O’Sullivan has exercised his right to free speech after taking offense during the players’ meeting, so at least he can express his opinions. Recall that players who rank lower than him in the global rankings and have expenses to cover frequently express their fear of speaking up and the severe monitoring of their social media posts by global Snooker.

The “Rocket’s” sincere commentary on Eurosport and his gentlemanly demeanor after losing multiple finals in recent years have been well-received by fans. Interestingly enough for the sport, he has also managed to win two of the previous three World Championships.