There is a buzz because of snooker money - Trump

Judd Trump is the current world number one with £974,000 prize money

World number one Judd Trump says snooker has been hoping for the huge prize money on offer at the Saudi Arabia Masters for more than a decade.

The tournament in Riyadh, which has been given the unofficial title of being the sport's 'fourth major' by organisers, is the biggest ever staged outside the UK.

With a £2.3m prize fund and £500,000 winner's cheque, only the World Championship in Sheffield is comparable.

"There is a different kind of buzz similar to the Crucible here and everyone throughout the last 10 to 15 years has hoped this would happen to snooker," Trump told BBC Sport.

"We have watched the other sports take the money away and everyone is happy and excited by this opportunity. Some of the events we go to in the Home Nations apart from Northern Ireland - which is a great venue - feel a bit second tier in how they are set up. You can feel the excitement here.

"There is a buzz because of the money and the chance for players to support their families."

The Saudi tournament and other events like the Xi'an Grand Prix in China have helped swell the prize money on offer on the professional tour to a record £19m, at least, this season.

Mark Allen, ranked number two in the world, said: "I appreciate it can change someone's life, unless you are a maybe a Ronnie [O'Sullivan], Judd or Ding [Junhui] that is set for life.

"It is a huge, huge amount of money we are playing for but it is not what we are thinking about. We are here to try and win a tournament.

"You don't start out in the game to win £500,000, you start out to be world champion and world number one. They are the dreams you have as a young boy and that shouldn't change."

Should World Championship be moved?

Snooker's World Championship has been held at the iconic Crucible in Sheffield every year since 1977.

Trump says "there's no real reason for it to move" to Saudi Arabia.

"This is a big one," he said speaking about the Saudi Arabia Masters. "At the moment to have the two biggest tournaments over here would not make too much sense.

"They need to go about growing this and making it as attractive and equal to the World Championship as possible and that looks like the idea to me."

Trump added he would "like to see the World Championship move around the world and change venue every year".

It was last held outside of England in 1975 in Australia. South Africa and Jersey have been the only other hosts.

Allen added: "There was a lot of chat about the World Championship moving when we were in Sheffield. I'm not really bothered either way.

"This will sound bad but we need to go wherever the most money is because that's how the sport will grow."

'There has to be move to points-based system'

Like Judd Trump, Mark Allen has won £974,000 prize money this season

Northern Ireland's Allen has called for the world rankings to "move to a points-based system" with less weighting towards the big tournaments.

Since 2014-15 snooker rankings have been based on prize money won - excluding at certain tournaments.

"You could pretty much lose in the first round of every tournament and win in Saudi and the Worlds and you're probably going to be number one," he said.

"It's time to find a balance with a points-based system that we've been trying to get for the last few years."

Englishman Trump, the 2019 world champion, agrees.

"The rankings still need to be looked at because we obviously have two big events now that stand out way above anything else so it is very difficult for anyone who doesn't win one of them to be number one," he said.

"I would much rather be winning five or six events a year which would make you feel like a far more deserving number one."

'Best time to be a snooker player'

Allen, 38, says this is "absolutely" the best time to ever be a snooker player with the big prize money on offer.

"The young boy Robbie McGuigan, who has just turned professional from our club is absolutely buzzing," he said.

"He knows nothing but what he's experienced these first few months and it's rubbed off on me and Jordan [Brown] in the club and it has given us an added extra incentive.

"It is the best time you could ask for to be a snooker player. It is amazing what World Snooker have done in the last 12 to 18 months because it wasn't great for a while."

Trump and Allen avoid sportswashing concerns

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has invested in several sports at the top level, including golf, football, Formula 1, boxing and tennis.

It has won the right to stage the finals of a revamped Asian Champions League football tournament, the 2034 Asian Games, 2027 Asian Cup and 2029 Winter Olympics, and is set to host the football 2034 World Cup.

Critics claim the investment is to gain legitimacy and deflect attention from controversy over Saudi Arabia's human rights record and its impact on the environment, a practice known as 'sportswashing'.

Allen said: "It's an easy get-out but it is nothing to do with me. I am here to play snooker and that is all I'll ever focus on. We go to a lot of countries that have issues and we have our own issues in the UK and nobody ever questions that."

Trump echoed those sentiments.

"I think every country has their own issues," he said. "Especially in the UK at the moment it is not good.

"I can only go on how I am treated here by people walking round and everyone is very friendly and it is very safe."