Allen referred over rant

After qualifying for the last 16 with a 6-3 win over Adrian Gunnell, the Northern Irishman criticised Hearn’s leadership of the game, accusing him of turning it into darts.

During his comments, Allen said "The players don’t really matter (to Hearn), so **** the players.

"When Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the World Championship, UK and Masters wouldn’t be touched. Only 18 months later, the UK format has changed."

Allen was referring to the decision to reduce the number of frames at the UK Championship from best-of-17 frames to best-of-11 frames until the semi-final stage.

World Snooker's governing body was not impressed.

"Following Mark Allen’s use of inappropriate language in his press conference at the UK Championship, he has been referred to the WPBSA’s disciplinary committee as he is in breach of tournament rules and could be charged with bringing the game into disrepute," WPBSA said in a statement.

"The WPBSA expects its members to behave in a manner which is appropriate to their status as professional sportsmen.

"At a time when our sport is growing fast on a global scale and we are encouraging greater participation among young people, we expect players to be role models and take the issue of their behaviour very seriously.

"World Snooker will make no further comment until after the disciplinary hearing."