Two world titles in Three-Cushion, two in Biathlon, ten European titles for teams, in the past years one of the protagonists in the period of the BWA, more than thirty years at the top and still a feared competitor for all players in the top ten of the ranking.
Marco Zanetti (April 10, 1962), living in Bolzano, is a brilliant billiard player, but sometimes also a controversial person. The Italian gentleman often was the initiator for negotiations with federations and organizations, pleaded for better conditions for players, but in some ways there is a bit of criticism for his behaviour inside the billiard room.
He is living with his girlfriend Martina and two and half years young boy Samuel. ,,I have a very happy family’’, he says. But on the other hand, in his sporty environment, there are clashes sometimes with referees, but most of the time with the UMB, remembering more than a year ago the fight with Farouk Barki, the sports director of the UMB, the World Billiard Federation.
That conflict, which escalated after a snappy discussion at the Worldcup tournament in Korea 2009, has led to a severe publishment: 50 penalty points for life on the world ranking. It is the reason Zanetti now has dropped out of the top twelve of the world.
The Italian saved his silence for two years and (in his own words) was never been questioned by officials about the incident in Korea and the penalty he got.
So it’s time for his story now.
Marco Zanetti about billiard, his life at home, his character, about rumors, his disappointment towards other top players, the generational battle and about his punishment. ,,I am a very quite person, in fact, I hate violence and injustice.’’
The story of a phenomenon with a special character.
Frits Bakker: How is life at this moment, Marco, despite some set backs and some headwind in your sport. How do you feel in daily life with your girlfriend and child, playing billiard, having some quality time?
Marco Zanetti: I have a very happy family and enjoy my very first fatherhood, which has come so late. I share my day between practicing and family when I’m at home.’
FB: For so many years you’re on top of the world, but still you’re even passionate and ambitious, may we say so?
MZ: I’m looking for fun when I play billiard. And if I make too many mistakes, the fun is over. That’s why I’m trying to improve constantly and I do it with seriousness and methods. I feel like a pioneer, who want to do research and experiments on the billiard table.’
FB: As with all top players, shape on the table is so elusive, also for you. Two years ago you were a great world champion, you played some marvellous tournaments in the World Cup, always strong in your home arena in Agipi, but then, like so many times, there is the inevitably relapse. Do you have, with all your experience, an explanation for that?
MZ: There are always small details. The ball is round, not the players. And in the match from time to time you can be very unlucky: bad positions, balls to the cushion, misfortune. Each player can become nervous for that and begin to doubt. Sometimes you can be reckless or over trained, the joy of playing is gone. You can quickly lose precision and start playing ’about’. Besides that the competition is very strong today.’
FB: The top ten positions in the ranking sometimes change, but relatively remain intact already for ten years and more, with a few minor exceptions. How do you see the development of other, young players?
MZ: There is a new, young generation, who is very ambitious and self-conscious, but the older players, most between forty and fifty years, are players with class, technique and experience. This generational battle is very interesting and on the long term the younger players will prevail (as we did many years ago). Let’s see how long it will take before in the forefront there will be more young boys than oldies.’
FB: You were, some years ago, as a player with your own strong opinions, one of the initiators for the establishment of a players council, the MBA. Do you still come together sometimes with that board. Many people who are involved with billiard say that they never hear anything about it.
MZ: The players council was founded in Sluiskil in 2007. All that time I thought that the times were ripe to build up a fresh community of interests, with the aim of giving billiard more importance. After a few years I realized that this vision is not supported by my colleagues and that anyone really thinks mainly of his own interests. The results therefore are not very positive. Since my disciplinary affair, in December 2009, I have not used my position as a President of the players club deliberately, because I didn’t want to put the functionaries under pressure. Thus, the activities of the MBA are set still for some time. I expected that my colleagues had done something for me, I was disappointed they did not. For that I have a bitter taste.
They cannot blame me for that, because I did a lot of good things for billiard, I think, like the rules of the Worldcup tournaments, included wildcards for players outside Europe, the price-money and other things. Sometimes it felt that I was fighting alone against UMB for that.’
FB: Do (top)players support each other when it comes to vision, innovation and solutions of conflicts?
MZ: I think that theoretically top players all want the same thing: the real importance to be seen as a top athlete to earn a good media broadcasting of major tournaments and related to that earning a high prize money. In practice everyone thinks slightly different. There is a great lack of collegiality…’
FB: Concerning yourself, Marco, there was that incident in the Worldcup in Suwon, more than a year ago now, which led to your punishment: a penalty of fifty points on the ranking, which will remain forever. The violation must have been very heavy.
MZ: Before the semi-final against Torbjörn Blomdahl, I complained to the UMB delegate Farouk Barki, that the people from the organization didn’t use a new Simonis product to clean the tables. Then the discussion escalated into other issues, longer topics that I’ve worn for years only in me. I admit that my tone during the debate became higher, but of course that was also a matter of competition stress. But I remained very factual, for sure, and Blomdahl can confirm that I didn’t insult or attack Barki personally. Unfortunately, nobody asked Blomdahl about that. I want to emphasize that all what happened was before the practicing and not during the match in the presence of television images, such as the UMB has written.
FB: Did you deserve a punishment, in your own opinion, for what happened there?
MZ: Even though I really would have done something bad, which was not true, one should also consider other values. I’ve been playing for thirty years at the highest level, I won the World championships. I am the oldest among the top players, have many fans around the world. In football only with worse fouls will be showed the red card. This penalty is completely unfair and everyone is talking about it, but only behind the scenes. A written warning would have been hard enough for me. This affair also shows that in disciplinary cases there is no democracy in the statutes of the UMB. Criminal proceedings, decision and appeal, everything passes only by the UMB, of course that’s wrong. But no federation complains and global indifference prevales.
FB: Would you have been punished by the UMB if you had apologized to Farouk Barki. And is it true that you refused it?
MZ: The fact is that I went on the same evening, after the banquet, to Farouk Barki and shaked hands with him, so for me the incident was forgotten. Nobody told me that I had to apologize to Barki. After the disciplinary accusation I spontaneously decided to apologize in writing to the Korean Association and the Asian Confederation because they had complained in a letter to the UMB for my behaviour. About it, I never got a response.
FB: How can we, in all realism, describe Marco Zanetti, without doing violence to the truth: must we say as a player, who in his ambition, pressure to win and in high concentrations, sometimes is going beyond borders?
MZ: I am an older player with a lot of idealism and very high respect for billiard sport. Unfortunately, I’ve seen very often that the athletes are under valued or suppressed. My case is just a next proof. It simply needs quality work to get up our sport. And after thirty years in billiard, I’m really disappointed about it. I carry my dream in me for over thirty years, but the huge potential of three-cushion only remains a dream, never a basis for a historical development. Sometimes we can play nice and very good tournaments, but it’s all in the hands of local organizers. It needs a good, strong management worldwide. The technical level of the top players and the fierce competition makes the sport more attractive, it’s quite clear. I would be willing to do anything new to create better circumstances but the community wants it only on paper and not in deed. Players, I think, must have an important responsibility. On and around the billiard table all the players are hundred percent professionals (tough competitions, sports doping, behaviour, public relations etc), on the other hand, in our common interests, it is not the same tendency. If this continues, we’ll play again in the future for a trophy as the winner prize. Personally, I suffer very much for that and sometimes a sign of this dissatisfaction is coming out on certain occasions. To make just a few examples. Sometimes I can be disturbed by un adapted music during a match (why do we have to play with music?). Or a wrong decision of a referee and not well maintained play materials. I’m certainly a bit to sensitive in this regard and would rather not be, but actually it affects me so much in my game, my concentration is disturbed.
FB: We must, nevertheless, conclude that a sentence for life is very hard.
MS: This penalty does not correspond to democratic principles at all, I only know that is added a life sentence or restriction to rare and very serious cases as murder. Inside the billiard world, honesty is apparently not so much appreciated, but more seen as a threat. I pay a hard price. The deduction in the world ranking is not the hardest, there are other things that are even harder. I am the oldest player on the top and was treated like a criminal without anyone was upset for it. What conclusions should I draw? How can you feel well in such a society?
Marco Zanetti has spoken, the battle is not over yet, if nobody takes the initiative for a ceasefire. The former world champion and the UMB seem to be no longer on speaking terms. That’s a bitter conclusion, more than one year after the affair.
Would not it be gorgeous that both parties would go around the table and attempt to make an end to this controversy? The billiard sport and all its followers would be the great winner.