THE UNREASONABLE BAN HAS NOT BEEN LIFTED
ACBS has issued a ban on all Asian and international tournaments from June 2024 to January 2025 for athletes and officials of the Vietnam Billiards & Snooker Federation (VBSF). The reason for this ban is said to be because Vietnam held the Hanoi Open Pool Championship in October 2023. This is a tournament of the World Nineball Tour (WNT), owned by Matchroom Company (an organization opposed to the World Billiards Pool Association - WPA). With this ban, the most affected people are Vietnamese pool players.
Duong Quoc Hoang and Vietnamese pool players are greatly affected by the ban of ACBS.
The ban by ACBS is not convincing. Previously, WNT tournaments were held in many places around the world such as England, Germany, America... and 2 Asian countries, China, Philippines, but the billiards federations of these countries were not penalized. The ban by ACBS is also baseless, as VBSF is not the unit that manages and organizes the Hanoi Open Pool Championship. This 9-ball pool tournament is organized by the Hanoi Billiards & Snooker Federation, under the license of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports. According to current Vietnamese law, the Hanoi Open Pool Championship being licensed by the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports is completely within its authority. VBSF does not have the right and responsibility to license international mass tournaments of the same nature and content as the Hanoi Open Pool Championship, so ACBS/WPA has no basis to issue a ban on VBSF.
The penalty imposed on Vietnamese billiards has been met with criticism and backlash from fans and many international players. When many of the world's top players simultaneously called for a boycott of WPA tournaments (until the ban is lifted), WPA took action to ease the tension by inviting athletes to an online dialogue to listen to their opinions. However, ACBS has not yet lifted the ban on Vietnamese athletes. ACBS even reiterated the above penalty, in the context of the Hanoi Open Pool Championship 2024 preparing to start (from September 28).
BIG BENEFITS FROM H ANOI O PEN P OOL C HAMPIONSHIP 2023: Not just about economics
The world's leading players have emphasized that the ACBS/WPA ban on many Asian players not only harms individuals but also threatens the development and integrity of billiards. For Vietnam, the ban on tournaments of a similar nature to the Hanoi Open Pool Championship also hinders the development of athletes, the movement and the sports economy in general.
According to statistics from the Hanoi Open Pool Championship 2023, 18 billion VND was paid to suppliers in Hanoi to organize the event; 1.2 billion VND was paid to 368 workers during the 16 days of the event. Revenue from international visitors (athletes, athletes' families, partner teams, etc.) was 23 billion VND. The tournament has a total prize money of up to 300,000 USD, meaning 30,000 USD in personal income tax was paid to the budget. A total of 872 million VND was paid to the budget from personal income tax on prizes and ticket sales tax.
In addition, the value of promoting the image of Hanoi in particular and Vietnam in general through tournaments such as Hanoi Open Pool Championship is very large. The image of Hanoi appears on major television channels in the world such as Sky Sport, DAZN...
BAN FROM WORLD CAROM BILLIARDS UNION (UMB)
By participating in the 3-cushion carom billiards tournament PBA Hanoi Open 2024 at the end of August, 128 male players and 64 female players (including 27 Vietnamese players) were banned by UMB from competing for 1 year (from August 27, 2024 - August 27, 2025) in tournaments under UMB and the player's country. Previously, top Vietnamese players such as Ma Minh Cam, Ngo Dinh Nai, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Nguyen Duc Anh Chien, Nguyen Huynh Phuong Linh were banned by UMB for switching to play for PBA.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lenh-cam-vo-ly-kim-ham-su-phat-trien-cua-billiards-viet-nam-185240918225320575.htm
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