The Asian Billiards & Snooker Federation (ACBS) has just issued a ban on all officials, athletes, and coaches of the Vietnam Billiards & Snooker Federation (VBSF) from participating in ACBS activities and tournaments. World Pool (WPA) and International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) will be held for 6 months, from July 13, 2024 to January 12, 2025. To lift the fine, the federation will have to pay $5,000 to ACBS.
The reason for this penalty is because Vietnam organized a tournament that was not licensed by ACBS, the Hanoi Open pool tournament in October 2023. This tournament is allowed to be organized by the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, part of the World Nineball Tour (WNT) system of Matchroom Pool, an organization opposed to the WPA.
In addition, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports also granted permission to continue organizing the above pool tournament in October 2024 and the PBA (Professional Billiards Association of Korea) tournament in August 2024.
After this ban, the Hanoi Billiards & Snooker Federation sent a document to the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports stating that ACBS has no legal basis to ban Vietnam from participating in international tournaments such as the Sports Festival. Asian indoor and martial arts 6 (AIMAG 6) in November 2024 or SEA Games 2025.
According to the Hanoi Billiards & Snooker Federation, ACBS only prohibits its member federations from organizing unlicensed tournaments. As for unions that do not belong to ACBS, they will not be banned. Vietnam Billiards & Snooker Federation (VBSF) is a member of ACBS, but Hanoi Billiards & Snooker Federation is not a member of ACBS. VBSF does not organize the Hanoi Open Pool Championship, or the PBA Hanoi Tour, but is conducted by the Hanoi Federation.
In the opinion of the Hanoi Billiard and Snooker Federation, based on the sanctioning regulations of organizations operating in the field of sports such as the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or a regional congress (SEA Games), sanctions on athletes, coaches... must be carried out on each team and individual based on specific grounds. It is impossible to sanction all athletes otherwise. There are specific grounds for the violation.
In fact, ACBS only issued a ban to the Vietnam Federation. Countries such as China, Philippines, Germany, Finland, Romania, USA, or Portugal all organize non-ACBS tournaments but are not banned from ACBS. Even Korea has hosted the PBA from 2019 until now while its players still compete in UMB tournaments.
Matchroom said they are discussing with the legal department and partners to take immediate action with ACBS. And Hanoi Open Pool Championship 2024 still takes place as planned.
The 3-cushion carom World Championship in Binh Thuan is not affected
UMB President, Mr. Farouk Barki said that the 2024 World Championship taking place in Binh Thuan from September 25 to September 29 is not affected by the ACBS ban. Therefore, the world's top carom players such as Tran Quyet Chien or Bao Phuong Vinh will still be able to participate in the UMB tournament.
