‘Don’t start’ | Ronnie O’Sullivan In Big Row With Referee Olivier Marteel | Eurosport Snooker 

Apparently Judd farted and denied it. It was mostly silent but Ronnie smelt it and was put off. Refs are trained to recognise the different farts of players and the ref knew Judd had guffed but didn't want to embarrass him in front of the crowd. The ref threatened to fart to neutralise Judd's fart and that's when Ronnie said 'Don't you fart'.

Only in Snooker would this be classed as a 'big row'

Ref - I saw it! Ronnie - what did you see? Ref - I’m not telling you! 😂

“The ref has displeased both players. They actually look furious” 😂

What do you mean “I’m not telling you here”? This is serious business. If you see something say what you saw. If you’re not telling then what’s the point of making a warning here? Very poor from the referee on this issue imo.

All I could hear when he said “don’t start” was my mum gearing up to really tell us off! Absolutely class 🤣

Jan Verhaas should be managing this match. No one else.

Judd is right here. Ref should have waited till the frame ended to point whatever it was. Stopping Judd in between is basically disturbing him amidst the concentration he is building up in the game.

For those asking what happened: the ref claimed to have seen a gesture (I suppose a rude one) done by Ronnie. Ronnie responded, "what gesture?!" The ref didn't want to say then. And the rest can be heard. Judd being displeased by the interaction which stalled his play was justified. This ref achieved nothing by interrupting.

That altercation probably help Ronnie, he can often get a bit bored and lose focus but that would've fired him up.

Good show from judd .. 'couldn't it have waited til after the game'

I saw an interview with O'Sullivan after the session. He said there are loads of cameras out there, if he did anything, just check them, it'd be somewhere. It's a valid point. If he's innocent of the accusation, it's no wonder he was annoyed.

You gotta agree there’s always something when Ronnie’s playing, but it’s sure entertaining , love it 😂

I remember a few weeks back during a match Ronnie alluded that the ref had dropped his guts whilst he was taking a shot. It was so bad Ronnie had to walk away until the fug had cleared. The ref stood there smiling. Hilarious.

The referee should officially state what he believed to have seen that he still felt important to give a 'warning' to Ronnie about all the while 'stressing out' both players at a final. Call a break and check the cameras if you're not so sure. If you are sure, come out and say it for all to see. Don't 'reprimand' and interfere based on guessing.

Don't start will be iconic in decades from now. Legendary stuff. Addes to drama. Brilliant

Ronnie is the reason i watch snooker. He is always entertaining. Maybe sometimes a “bad” boy but thats his charm. Love you Ronnie!

Wow huge row. Didn't expect that. I'm in shock

Ronnies just making sure his documentary is a must watch, brilliant bit of marketing. A successful writer, TV pundit, Documentary maker, and the most successful snooker player ever. When that Iranian clown said he should retire this world championship was as good as over for the rest of them. That’s all the motivation he needed. He’s as mad as a bag frogs but on his game he’s unbeatable, they all know it, and most importantly he’s knows it.

"You saw nothing" that was cooold man

So, how big is Ronnie O'Sullivan in snooker? HE tells the referee off. 😂

Wasn't a Judd fan before this final but got to love the big guy now

Assuming Ronnie actually did anything at all, if the ref had waited until the end of of the frame, Ronnie could have made several more gestures/comments that could have warranted a warning. And technically a second warning means you forfeit the frame, a third means you forfeit the match! So the player has to be made aware they're on a yellow card.

Well I must say, I think this is the most exciting snooker clip I've ever seen. If it carries on like this I might even subscribe. Truly rivetting entertainment.

I would have liked to have seen the Referee “Start” this final needed the drama of a big punch up between Ronnie and Olivier😁😁😁😁

I don't know if Ronnie made an inappropriate gesture or not I didn't notice any gesture and I haven't seen any footage of any gesture. Ronnie is well known for his impatience with referees and maybe he should deal with that a bit better than he does. Having said that the referee said "I think I saw something". You can't think that you saw something you either definitely saw something or you didn't. The referee going over to Ronnie because he thought he saw something was not a good thing to do when Judd was coming to the table to make a frame winning clearance. It was the last frame of the session and the referee should have used some common sense and waited until the end of the frame instead of interrupting Judd's concentration. It is a good job that Judd did clear up the colours to win that frame I can't imagine how angry he would have been if he had missed that yellow. Ronnie should have a bit more patience but Olivier Marteel never looked confident refereeing the match.

Poor refereeing. One of the female refs would have handled it better, but that guy just wants to be noticed. No need to have a word with Ronnie while Judd is about to play. It put Judd off and it was nothing to do with him. If the ref genuinely saw something (and that is debatable since none of the many TV cameras have picked anything up) then he should have spoke to him at the end of the frame.

Everyone is criticising Olivier Marteel here. Ronnie has form for making self deprecatory gestures. Maybe in future referees should simply say "Yes indeed Ronnie, you are a wanker" and move on with it.

The referree got a grudge on him before this incident there was a discussion about placing the white back on the table when he missed the red where Ronny told him to take the shot himself if he can do it better he told Ronny you can take the shot for me the referee is not neutral anymore and needs to be replaced

Snooker is not snooker without Ronnie only reason I watch it up the Ronnie snooker king now and always in my book

All ready for his Netflix doc! 😂

The only player that can beat Ronnie is Ronnie himself. If he's up for it, no player can touch him, even at 46 years of age.

Ronnie had killer eyes towards the ref

Between me and you Ronnie loves a “rude gesture” then tries to say he didn’t do anything haha he’s like that kid in school who always does something and gets caught 🎱

01.34 a Ronnis Thug Life moment.

Ronnie is not only the best snooker player that all green tables fears, but also a unique entertainer .. buttom line he is the goat he is the 🚀 n we love him 💯♥️👍

“Don’t start!” It’s like an old married couple 😂

Come on Rocket Ronnie …. GOAT 💙 !!

The referee I find was at fault here, not only putting off Ron when he was trying to hit the yellow, but also confronting Ron while Judd was trying to line up the shot, The referee should’ve confronted Ronnie after the frame was over. Some people will criticise Ron for being a bit verbally hostile to the ref, but remember this, Ron is in the final trying to get his seventh world title which will match him up with Hendry, I would say 90% of the audience wants to see him win it so there is a lot of pressure on him, so is anyone really surprised that he responded the way he did? He’s no John Williams.

Nice to see both players having each others backs...

I like watching Ronnie play. He is entertaining.

Just a lil mind games from Ronnie.

Ronnie is a very intimidating character by the looks of it, a hustler and a fantastic player, bet the other players wouldn’t dare beat him he, might fly off the handle

When i saw at the start who it was gonna be i just knew this guy shouldn't be refereeing this final...

I thought Ronnie was gonna smash the cue over his head. Showed brilliant restraint the lad

I was on the edge of my seat with this action.. Oooh the drama.

I was there. Was wondering what he'd said!

It's Ronnie's ability to kick on when he gets ahead that makes him so good .

I don't care what O'Sullivan did. He was back in his chair, Trump was taking his shot, and the session was almost surely over. Deal with it during the break. Marteel was more unprofessional than Ronnie in my opinion. He needlessly interrupted play which is unforgivable as a referee. In the very unlikely event that Trump missed the whole thing goes sideways.

He gonna made a history of many things here.

will never get another player like ronnie ever again absolute world class

The ref should have said something after the conclusion of the frame , not fair on Judd who was waiting to take his shot . Snooker is never dull with Ronnie around ….

This ref is like the Mike Dean of Snooker. That’s twice he’s got involved now for no reason

Wow what a big row, never seen anything like it....

Well done judd sportsman spirit 👏 backed Ronnie

have you noticed recently that all the refs have taken a dislike to ronnie lately

He didn’t let it affect his game which was the most important thing

I only watch snooker cos of Ronnie , Refs back end fell out after Ronnie asked him what did you say 😂 love it go on Ronnie

Can I just say; EUROSPORT FOR THE WIN

Just as anxiety hit my heart...I see Ronny pointing and saying don't start 🤣🤣 it's hard to know whether to laugh or have a heart attack..the timing is scary

When both players are angry with the ref, for different reasons, you know he fucked up.

Wow what a big wow that was

O’Sullivan’s face is hilarious there sitting in the seat, darting his tongue about his mouth in anger.

And a few frames after this ronnie stand there after a foul and miss with his queue and the ref had to "work" around him. It was soooo funny to know about this and then ronnie be like "fuck you, you figure it out" i just love his attitude xD

I admire Trump telling the ref he should have waited till the game was over!! It was his way of telling him to leave Ronnie alone!! 👌👍👏☺️

My favorite game ever

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the new Al Pacino 🇯🇲🇬🇧👍

Could easily have been solved if the ref had said what Ronnie had done. I've watched it several times and still have no idea. We're all forming opinions based on having no clue what it's about. The Ref had set a bad tone from early on when he was unable to put the white in the correct place after a foul by Ronnie. The footage clearly showed the ball was not in the right place despite all the faffing.

Bad boy of snooker and pure Genius.

Yep and there was a nice little follow through

Ronnie got an official warning after this they said.

Didn’t know Mike Dean had switched to snooker

If the ref thinks a rule has been broken, he needs to say so. OUT LOUD.

Temperamental genius.

You can imagine what Ronnie was like at school.

Got to love Ronnie!! Snooker`s John McEnroe.

The thing about Rocket is it either completely obliterates the opponent or it self destructs in magnificent fashion..Which ironically is an apt description of Ronnie imo

Less is how good he is in snooker, than the way he plays, approaches every shot, speed of moves ... That's what he will be remembered for outside the trophy, that's what will turn into a myth and legend, that's what it is and what will be the trajectory and desired goal for each new snooker player, all that is what it is and what will be characterized as the right way to play that game. And no matter how philosophically simple it will be characterized, it will be almost impossible to reach.

Ronnie learnt it well from the 'Master Snooker Showman,' Alex ''Hurricane'' Higgins.

The ref was rattled by Ronnie earlier in the match re the re-spotting of the white. You could see he didn't like it at the time.

The way martel spoke to Ronnie the moved white ball was shocking he had a total attitude

Don’t start Marteel just don’t start 😆😆😆😆

I wonder when this gesture takes place. I've been looking on but couldn't find anything. Maybe off camera?

I think the reaction of Trump here to the ref and to go on and clear up the colours in a strange kind of way actually helped O Sullivan a lot to let this whole controversy go and get on with the game this evening and play as well as he did.

Absolute love it!!!! Awesome RoS standing up for himself. He’s trying to climb Mt Everest as best he can. Internally he’s fighting all his demons even though he doesn’t show it at the table. He has the right to challenge ref if RoS believes hes being picked on. Just let the players play ref!!

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can we pls make a meme of the thumbnail. Its hilarious!

"don't you start I'll knock you out clean"

I don’t think we’ll see that ref again too often in important games. As in all sports, the best refs are those that don’t get noticed, but the games just seem to flow and function around them.

I like a guy who fights his corner, right or wrong.

I love it when you see controversy in snooker as its rare, it always seems to involve O sullivan

You saw in the face of the lady in the auditorium that Ronnie did something unusual. The final game was really a good show, I have now even my wife hooked.

Good content for the doc. And that’s all anyone wants these days.

Cometh the moment cometh the man

Ron has a history with gestures. He was once told of by Michaela Tabb for 'w*nk*ng' his cue! When she leant over the table to replace the blue you could understand his reaction.

I'm a Ronnie fan, but he needs to be careful. Keeps arguing with the ref. Ultimately it will wind him up, lose focus and Judd may end up winning the title tomorrow.

ref should have been taken off for that ....disgraceful behaviour from the referee

You would never see any other top player do this... only Ronnie. He done something to 'start it' in the first place otherwise the ref would say nothing to him.

The attitude of the ref while Ronnie trying to get the white right fuelled the fire

Go on Ronnie 🤩👊