I just watched the first few segments of this interview with Ishaun Singh, whoever he is. I've never heard his name before and now he tells us this is his idea and he is the boss of the WPA! I would like to know what his background is in the sport of Pool and how he came to this position?
I found him to be both evasive in his responses and stumbling around to find the right words to fit his narrative. Some of it sounds like double speak, where he is denying the very issues that exist at the heart of this dispute. He is telling us that the MR 9-Ball rankings and the sanction fees are not really part of the problem. And he glosses over the issues regarding the rules. What I can tell you is that there is another side to this story and it's not being told here. I have had private conversations with Barry Hearn where he elaborated on his issues with the WPA, but it is not my place to speak for him or repeat anything he told me in private. I would like to hear a response either from Barry himself or Emily to the allegations this man is making here.
In essence he is saying that due to the WPA dispute with Matchroom they will punish the players by curtailing one of their best options to make a living playing pool! That kind of turns my stomach to print this here. IMO this would only make sense if there were MR events that conflicted with WPA sanctioned events. In that case the players would need to make a decision where they would play, knowing there could be possible penalties for appearing in a conflicting tournament. I do not think this has been the case yet. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
All this harkens back to other times in the history of our sport where poor decision making by players and their leadership resulted in the loss of sponsorship and the cancellation of major tournaments. The sport of Pool has continually shot itself in the foot due to errors in judgement similar to what we are seeing here. Mr. Singh refers to the "ownership" of the sport, as if it belongs to the WPA, who has never been any more than a sanctioning body. To the best of my knowlege they have never put any money into the sport, and in actuality only collected money from promoters and traveled to the events on the promoters dime and graced the awards ceremonies as if they had co-produced the events. Even their promise to protect your dates and at the same time protect the players was not always kept! In the event of problems with the prize money payouts, they failed to intevene on behalf of the players and did not sanction the promoters who failed to pay in a timely and complete manner. When there were conflicts in dates they would typically side with the promoter who was paying them the highest fees. This is the history I remember and I've been around far longer than Mr. Singh. He hasn't even got his feet wet and yet he is pontificating like he knows what's best for our sport. I've seen so many do-gooders come and go in my time with this sport.
What is clearly needed now is a strong players association, like we see with the PGA tour in golf. If 100 of the top players got together, they would become a powerful force in forging their own future. At a time when Pool looks to be on the precipice of a big move forward in terms of prize money, major tournaments and far more exposure for the players on television and live streams, they need to be a cohesive unit. They need good leadership from people that are part of the industry, who are mainly concerned with what's best for the players, and not themselves. What is often forgotten by people like I see here is that without the players there would be no tournaments to sanction, and nothing for him to do. The players are the stars, and that fact should not be lost on the various people that engage in this sport in any capacity.
Try though they might, they can't sanction or suspend me!
Well said, Jay, and yes, WPA will continue to misrepresent things as they look really bad here. I've never met Ishaun, so I can't comment on the man himself.
I would agree that if the players presented a united front, they could make a difference. Though in less detail than you, I also know the history of pro pool over the last fifty years or so from both the event producer and player perspective.
That said, I don't find this situation being comparable to any we've seen. Barring revision or abolition of the WPA edict that stands in the way of players maximizing their earnings from pro pool, we're moving into a world in which each of the players will reside in one of two worlds.
Those in World 1 will continue to get money from their governments and/or federations, agreeing to sit out all "WPA sanctioning eligible" events that forego sanctioning (yes, this means Matchroom events, but also includes a few other events and possibly emerging events).
Those in World 2 will forego government/federation money and won't participate in WPA sanctioned events but will remain eligible to participate in Matchroom events, including four zero entry fee events annually for most of the elite in the Premier League Pool, WPM, WCOP, and Mosconi Cup.
Within these parameters, it's not clear how the players will be able to get together and offer a united front. Some will have a deep commitment to maintaining relations with their own governments/federations and will feel that all players getting that kind of support should feel similar loyalties. One of the issues at the core of this mess is the question "To what extent should players remain loyal to the governments/federations that provided the pool infrastructure under which they developed into world class players?" and opinions differ greatly among the players.
The WPA has been successful in creating a huge divide among the players. Soon, some of the most elite players might go an entire calendar year without seeing each other. That's a big impediment to getting the players to offer a united front, so if they want to act together, they should do it without delay.
I wish I had a solution, but I don't. Where I hope this is heading is towards some sort of reconciliation between WPA and Matchroom, but it's hard to imagine that happening right now. The rhetoric from WPA still feels like that of a monopoly determined to ward off competition.
Pool is big enough for Matchroom and WPA, and I wish both of them success over the long haul.
