The days of World Championship snooker being staged at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre could be numbered after more than a quarter of a century.
Former World Snooker board member Jim Chambers has revealed that discussions have taken place at board level about the possibility of eventually moving the tournament overseas. It has been taken abroad on three previous occasions, to South Africa in 1966 and then twice to Australia in the 1970s.
Sheffield has been the home for world snooker's premier event since 1977 when Embassy (Imperial Tobacco) began their lengthy sponsorship deal. But the contract to hold the tournament at the sport's most famous venue runs out in 2005 at the same time as the Embassy deal has to end because of British government legislation regarding tobacco advertising.
Former professional Chambers was a member of World Snooker for seven years before a new board was put together by chairman Sir Rodney Walker in March.
Chambers said: "All the players will probably scream at the thought of leaving the Crucible. They no doubt will want to stay there. But if a worldwide sponsor comes in, I don't believe they would be quite so upset at having to go."
The championship will be back in Sheffield next year but, with Embassy forced to withdraw in 2005 under new legislation, the guarantee of a worldwide market place could well be a major attraction for potential sponsors with worldwide outlets.
Walker, who has been given a mandate to repair snooker's battered image, admitted: "The real big challenge is to find new sponsors. Gallaghers, who sponsored the Benson and Hedges, are gone and Imperial Tobacco have one year to run at Sheffield. They are big holes to fill."
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
