By Elliott West
Introduction
This is a subject I am revisiting, having written about this previously. With many obscure sports such as BMX racing and cheerleading being introduced as participating sports by the Olympic Committee, the call to include snooker has up to now, fallen on deaf ears. Snooker may not be a physical sport but it requires a great deal of skill and mental agility to play it. It commands large viewing figures and has increasingly become a global sport.
The Rallying Cry
In recent weeks, one famous name that has asked for snooker to be added to the Olympics, is the former Brazilian footballer, Pele. He believes that his country could win gold medals in the sport and with players such Igor Figueiredo, currently ranked 75, playing well in recent years and the Brazilian Masters held briefly in the country, there seems to be a clear appetite for the sport in this South American country. This is despite the fact that the predominant cue sport is Sinuca Brasileira, a hybrid of snooker, played on a ten-foot table, using one red ball and six colours. Pele commented on Instagram, saying:
“Who agrees that snooker should be in the Olympic Games? I’m sure we have great players all over Brazil. We’ll win gold medals when that happens.”
Pele
Snooker has a massive audience with over 500 million watching tournaments on television networks globally. Despite these impressive ratings, representations from Jason Ferguson to the Olympic committee in 2020 and 2024, have failed to secure the sport a place in this Ancient Greek competition.
Summary
As snooker continues to grow and expand across the world, there will come a time when it will become impossible to refuse snooker from becoming an Olympic sport. The sport has broken down so many doors in its time and this is just another, that may take longer to open. Snooker players have already won gold medals in small versions of the Olympics such as the Asian Games and the sport continues to grow in China with massive investment into the sport.
We must be patient because this will be a waiting game but with any process, you must expect knockbacks. The end result and prize though is there and impressive when it has been achieved. Snooker is here to stay and this wave of support will enthuse the Olympic Committee in the coming years.
