Ronnie O’Sullivan has firmly denied that his relocation to Dubai was motivated by tax considerations. The 50-year-old snooker legend, who married Laila Rouass in June, left the UK for the Middle East last summer and has since been largely absent from British tournaments, playing only one event before returning for the current World Championship at the Crucible.
A New Lifestyle Across Continents
O’Sullivan now splits his time between homes in Dubai and Dublin, with a particular focus on competitions in China and Saudi Arabia. Despite missing the pre-tournament Champions’ Dinner and Media Day, he appeared in excellent form as he began his campaign for a record eighth Crucible title, defeating He Guoqiang 10-2.
When asked directly if he moved to Dubai for tax reasons, the seven-time world champion, currently ranked world No12, responded: “I’ve not moved away for any other reason than I'm happy where I'm living. I love being in Dubai and I love being in Ireland. I've not moved away for any reason. I just choose to come when I want to come. They're my homes now so I just commute between them and obviously in China, Hong Kong. I won't be flying anywhere [during the tournament], I'll be staying here.”
The Burden of Individual Sport
Throughout his illustrious career spanning more than three decades, O’Sullivan has been haunted by his relentless pursuit of perfection, which has occasionally taken a toll on his mental well-being. As the face of snooker, he admits that he sometimes wishes he could share the pressure with teammates.
The Chigwell-born star is set to renew a 30-year Crucible rivalry with John Higgins in the last 16 on Saturday night. O’Sullivan, who has previously skipped tournaments due to stage fright, elaborated: “Snooker, you just have to do it all by yourself. I wish I was a footballer or playing in the NFL or something where you can ask the boss if I could have a month off. Or please don’t let me play against him because I don’t like playing against him. But my whole career has been like, you’ve got to be here this time, play that person. And I’ve had to play all the best players of different generations. Some of these fighters get hand-picked opponents for them, I’ve had to play the field. I always say, that’s why I fell out of love with boxing, because some people get the easy path, some people have to do the hard path. I respect boxers that do the hard path, because you think, OK, at least they’re fighting the best out there. And I think my career has been like that. I’ve had to just do it the hard way, if you like. I don’t want too many more years of that.”
