World Snooker gives dispensation to former champ Hamza Akbar to compete in pro circuit

KARACHI: The global body of professional snooker has announced that Pakistan’s Hamza Akbar will get special privilege exempting him from certain laws to compete in the main tour of next two seasons.

“The WPBSA would also like to confirm that the 2015 ACBS Champion, Hamza Akbar, will be given special dispensation to compete in the Main Tour for the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, which he will start on zero points,” said a statement from WPBSA on Wednesday.

Hamza was Pakistan’s only player in world professional circuit, but he failed to finish among top 64 at the end of season, which meant he had to drop out of the next season.

But the WPBSA considered the circumstances Hamza faced while being in circuit from 2015, which kept him struggling to get funds and visas to travel and participate in tournaments.

“The decision to allow Hamza to compete for this initial period has been taken in light of the exceptional circumstances surrounding his well-documented struggles to access a visa to compete in snooker events and falls in line with similar measures undertaken to support other snooker players from developing regions,” the statement added.

The statement further said that Hamza has been allocated a place for the 2017/18 and 18/19 seasons in place of an Americas tour.

“There will be no Americas nomination as there has been no All Americas Championship held this year from which a player could be nominated. For that reason World Snooker can be assured that no Amateur player will be disadvantaged as a result of this decision,” the WPBSA clarified.