ANTALYA/SEOUL - The foreshadowing of a new league for professional players has caused major unrest in the billiard world. The 3-cushion sport, with its hundreds of thousands of players, is under threat of a power grab by an announced new circuit. This future cycle of events will take place in South Korea, but some European players led by Belgian Frédéric Caudron also want to join. The World governing body (UMB) and its member federations fear a situation will arise like the one in the eighties, with the BWA, (Billiards Worldcup Association), which was also a separate professional league. That escalated to a divide and the UMB suspended several players, including Raymond Ceulemans, the all-time champion. A similar discord is now on the horizon, this time originating from South Korea, where billiards has so many players and fans.
The new tour, called PBA (Professional Billiards Association) was launched this morning in Seoul in a room with 300 guests from the billiards industry and players. Top ranked players from Korea and other countries were missing. The president made a 15-minute presentation of the league plan for 5 years.
The schedule is:
2019-2020: 6-8 tournaments
2020-2021: 8-12 stops
2021-2022: 12-18 stops
2022-2023: 18-24 stops
2023-2024: 24-30 stops.
The first event will start in June 2019. The prize money for this year: first 3 stops 180,000 dollars, last 2 stops: 270,000 and 360,000. There are a total of 50 top world ranking players contacted and 15 of them expressed their intention to join the PBA Tour. The opposing parties in the conflict are the UMB, with its global membership and their media partner Kozoom on one side, and a group led by the sport agency Bravo&New and Kimchi Billiards on the other side. The latter plan a coup to start a professional league in Korea. The plans are in the making for this summer, to put players under contract and organize a series of events in Korea.
A number of European players have been approached by Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Leppens, who were openly discussing contracts with players during last week's World Cup in Antalya, Turkey. Reportedly, among these players were Dick Jaspers, Eddy Merckx, Semih Sayginer, Murat Naci Coklu, Dani Sánchez and Nikos Polychronopoulos. The UMB, organizer of the World Cup series and World championships, is also sanctioning the new cycle of Survival Masters, the new Ceulemans Cup and major invitational events such as the LG U+ Cup and the McCreery tournament. The World Federation does not accept that players will join an outside circuit and announces strict measures and suspensions.
After weeks of rumors and unrest, the UMB and its partner Kozoom give their point of view about the conflict. Here are the comments of Mr. Farouk Barki (President of the UMB), Mrs. Diane Wild (President of the CEB), Mr. Herbert Thuer (Sports Director of the UMB) and Mr. Xavier Carrer (Founder and CEO of Kozoom Group):
UMB President Mr. Farouk Barki warned during the closing ceremony of the Antalya World Cup: "We will not hesitate to suspend players for extended periods if they participate in these unauthorized events.'' The reaction of officials about this scenario is unanimous. Diane Wild confirmed: "It is clear that the CEB will fully support the UMB. A UMB sanction will be automatically applied at CEB and national level. Exactly as the opposite would also be the case, a player suspended by his federation would be de facto suspended by CEB and therefore by UMB.''
Mr. Farouk Barki: "It was our first task to warn players about the dangers of a transition. We don't accept, and I say we never will, that players will play for an organization in tournaments that are not sanctioned by the UMB. They need to know that we will take huge sanctions, and not only suspend players, but we will not allow them to come back for years. We know that they are misled with promises of big contracts, but without guarantees. That the new party, Bravo and Kimchi, has told the players that we cannot impose penalties. I want to warn them all that we really will. Playing for this other club of organizers, means that they will not be allowed anymore to play tournaments or competitions anywhere else, in any country.''
Mr. Farouk Barki and Mr. Herbert Thür
Mr. Barki's later comment: "while two private companies are trying to destroy our sport and what we built during last three years, UMB is working, and will keep working for the development of three cushion. Our negotiations with Eurosport last year came to an end. And finally, we will watch three cushion on Eurosport starting from March 2019. More good news will be announced during our press conference in Korea at the end of this month in cooperation with Korean federation, Kozoom and a prime Korean Sports Marketing company.''
Mr. Herbert Thuer, Sport Director of the UMB: "if players violate the rules of the UMB, then the UMB must act according to its own statutes. The consequence would be the suspension of these players for all UMB events which is bad for the players but also for the sport. As a UMB sports director, I would be very sad about this, especially as a return of these players in the UMB, is hard to imagine. It is annoying that the success of billiard sports under the umbrella of the UMB and its federations has created the conditions for a profit-oriented company to try "cherry picking" regardless of the overall sport.''
Mr. Farouk Barki: :Bravo&New is trying to reassure players by explaining that the UMB will not have the right to penalize them when they will play their tournaments. They even offered legal assistance to the players. Of course the UMB will apply sanctions and I'm curious to hear the arguments of their Korean lawyers coming to Lausanne court. We also have lawyers.''
Mss. Diane Wild attended the World Cup in Antalya and shared her feelings: "At a time when our sport is in full progress, thanks in particular to the efforts of UMB and Kozoom, it is very sad to split forces and create such a bad atmosphere. It should not be forgotten that it was also the images of Kozoom that boosted the popularity of European players in Korea.''
Mss Diane Wild: Very sad to split foreces and create such a bad atmosphere
Mr. Xavier Carrer: "The rumors coming from Korea about projects with professional tournaments have been around for almost three years but did not lead to anything. The only concrete developments with new tournaments, such as the LG U + Cup and the Survival Masters series, were organized under the guidance of the UMB. The rumors in these recent years came from different groups of people, mostly linked to companies from billiards industry who were connected to top players. This time, the project comes from the sport marketing agency Bravo&New, sub-company of the holding 'New', which has been very successful in movies and fiction content. Bravo&New was created less than 3 years ago but became recently share holder of the cable channel BilliardsTV and Kimchi Billiards, distributor of Longoni Cues and main sponsor of Frédéric Caudron.''
Xavier Carrer: "Most of the employees involved in Bravo&New are coming from a major Korean sports marketing agency named Galaxia SM, which is currently the agency of the Korean Billiards Federation. Kozoom also is finalizing an important deal with Galaxia SM to co-organize three of our Masters this year. Since last summer, the relationship between KBF and UMB is much better. That's why Kozoom is now working with the same marketing agency who will open doors of major sponsors outside billiards industry. Together with KBF and UMB, Kozoom takes part of a strong group. We want to avoid conflicts as we experienced last year.''
Mr. Xavier Carrer, Kozoom: Bravo&New together with Kimchi are trying to destroy what the UMB and Kozoom has built up the in the past three years
Can we say that global billiards is in the middle of a commercial competition between both sport agencies Bravo&New and Galaxia? To Xavier Carrer, it sounds more complicated: "Bravo&New has a very aggressive strategy to take over the billiards market. They don't care about the UMB and the consequences of their business outside Korea. Their Business Model is not only based on media market but also the equipment business. Why would they buy Kimchi Billiards if it's not to sell cues and tables?''
Bravo&New is launching a professional league named PBA (Professional Billiards Association) with a series of one-week tournaments, with a first stop scheduled in June. The prize money would be similar to what the players can earn in the Masters and LG U + Cup, but with many more players. Xavier Carrer: "their strategy is to organize these long tournaments to broadcast many matches on their TV channel and make the promotion of their tables, cues and accessories. Today, BilliardsTV must buy all UMB content to the main sports channel MBC Sports +, which is buying the exclusive rights in Korea to Kozoom International. That's why Bravo&New planned to not buy any more content from UMB events and to organize their own that they plan to resell to other channels and or sponsors."
Xavier Carrer: "It is clear that Bravo&New, together with Kimchi, have decided to destroy what UMB and Kozoom built up the past years to make billiards more professional. For that, they use Frédéric Caudron as their main ambassador to persuade top players to leave the UMB. Caudron spent most of his time between matches in Antalya World Cup to meet players and sell their project. Some players, sponsored by Kimchi and are quite low in the rankings, will be easy to convince, like Leppens, De Bruijn, Hofman... but it will be much more difficult to convince world-class players with world titles, because they will ask a lot more money with guaranteed payment. Many of these players earn money now with a stable and reliable project under the umbrella of UMB. They are not dealing with rookies. Players know the risk is very high and they will be smart enough to protect their interests.''
Living in Korea half of the year, or even longer, is a big step for a non-Korean player. It would impact their careers but also their entire life. Farouk Barki: "Money won't be the only decision-making criteria but probably the main one. But I don't like the comparison with the BWA. At this period, the UMB was not offering any future to professional players. We have shown that it has been possible in recent years to create a real professional status for players in the UMB without causing problems for federations and clubs. We still have a lot of work to do, of course, but we are on the right track. Most players have faith in us, because we have kept our words. It is a very painful thought that some of the top players would turn away from us now. Players are free to make their decision but they must know we have rules and we will not hesitate to apply them.''
The UMB board members and Kozoom partners when they signed a contract in 2017 to increase prize money in UMB events
Xavier Carrer: "Till now, some players have been excluded from the meetings and negotiations to enter the tour. Most of the Molinari players are not involved and Xavier Carrer has a very rude opinion about it: "I'm a bit disgusted by the way Bravo/Kimchi is acting, not inviting several top players to participate in their tournaments because they are sponsored by another brand. Can you believe that Torbjörn Blomdahl is not on their list to join their professional league? He is for sure one of the most famous players in Korea. A big value for any organizer. Not involving a big name because he is not sponsored by the right cue manufacturer, it's so stupid. Imagine, you are a successful tennis equipment distributor and you decide to create new professional tournaments in your country, then you decide to exclude Roger Federer from the players list because he's not playing with the racket brand you are distributing... That would be a shame, or in the best case a bad joke. But I'm afraid Kimchi/Bravo is not joking. And I am very sad to see a great champion like Frederic Caudron supporting such a project. Of course, I know money is on top of his priorities, but there should be some limits. Sport is also a matter of morality and values.''
Xavier Carrer: "of course, I'm not a kid anymore. I knew that creating value around 3-Cushion would bring competitors. Here we are and we are ready to fight to protect our investments and the future of 3-Cushion. I opened the doors several months ago to Bravo&New to try to find a solution together and avoid this conflict but it has never been their plan to collaborate with Kozoom and the UMB, despite the request of many players. I know they will not hesitate to lie to them and say they tried to work with us. I'm glad to see that Federations and most of the players are supporting us today. Bravo&New would make a big mistake if they believe they can take over the Billiards World that easy."
The president of Bravo&New: Mr. Sang-Jin Jang
How do the players comment on the current situation? The world champion Dick Jaspers was the first top player to openly declare that he will stay loyal to the UMB. The Dutchman will not respond to an offer from a new professional league in South Korea, that wants to organize competitions outside the world federation.
Dick Jaspers: "The freedom to play everywhere I want to play, is very important to me. And I feel good by the way I show my loyalty to the UMB. My feeling is that this is the right decision.''
Tayfun Tasdemir from Turkey, who won the World Cup in Antalya last week, said that he will wait on the development in the upcoming weeks. "There should be more and better financial opportunities for players all over the world. We all like to see a cooperation. I want to play for my flag in all championships and tournaments. But of course I am very interested in what happens around with companies and organizers trying to participate in billiards.''
Eddy Leppens from Belgium: "I don't belong to one of them, UMB or Kimchi or any other. I speak as a player and a billiard lover. Why can't they find a way to cooperate, why can't they speak to each other and organize a big, common competition for all of us. Why do they fight instead of work together? I should ask the UMB: isn't this what we all wanted for many years, a big sponsor for the world's billiard? I'm a player, I don't want this fight, I want us all together in a big billiards family.''
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen from Vietnam: "I was really surprised by all the news. For now, I cannot give my opinion, because I don't know the inside story. Who is right or wrong, who does many things for world billiards or for himself? We are interested, of course to make more money and we can make a better life.''
The world champion Dick Jaspers: I feel good to show my loyalty to the UMB
Kimchi and Caudron have been rejecting my request for interviews for several months now.
Frits Bakker