June 18, 2016, by Graham Kendall

Is the sporting world putting money before fairness?

As the 2016 World Snooker Championship gets underway, the 32 entrants will compete for the most sought-after prize in the game. But not all of them will have gone through the same struggle to be there.

The top 16 players, defined by the highest money earners over the past two years, get automatic qualification to the televised stages of the tournament, held at the Crucible in Sheffield. The current world champion also receives a direct entry. The remaining places are decided by a qualifying competition involving players ranked 17-144 in the world, any other living world champions and selected players from emerging countries.

Once the 32 players reach the Crucible, a player needs to win five matches to become the world champion. But those not in the top 16 will have had to win an additional three matches before this point. Is this fair?

… so starts a recently published article in TheConversation that asks whether sports finals are fair.

Other Conversation articles that we have featured on this blog can be seen here.

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