Ronnie O'Sullivan's team have announced that he will not be playing in a planned exhibition match against John Higgins in Finland this weekend.

It comes a day after The Rocket confirmed his withdrawal from next week's German Masters due to medical reasons.

He was set to face Higgins in an exhibition on Saturday, with the event being staged the Finnish capital of Helsinki. However, it has now been confirmed that O'Sullivan will not be taking part, meaning the match will need to be rescheduled.

In a statement, his team said: "We are really sorry to have to cancel the event in Helsinki this weekend. We will work with the promoters to find a date to reschedule a show when Ronnie is feeling better. We thank all his fans for their understanding."

O'Sullivan has not played since losing to Robert Milkins in the Championship League before withdrawing from the Masters, where he would have been the defending champion.

During his defeat to Milkins, the 49-year-old broke his cue and left it in a bin before pulling out of his final group stage match. He later confirmed that he would not be playing at the Masters due to 'exhaustion' from travelling around the world.

"I've obviously been on this three-week trip, away playing, and I think I just exhausted myself," he said. "There was a lot of pressure while I was away and the build-up of all that kind of got too much.

"I lost the plot on Thursday and snapped my cue so that's unplayable, so I just knew at that moment in time, the right decision was not to play. It's such a big tournament I felt whoever was going to come in should at least have a couple of days' notice."

O'Sullivan was expected to make his return to action at the German Masters, but it was confirmed on Wednesday that he had withdrawn from his round-of-64 match against Dylan Emery.

A statement from the World Snooker Tour read: "Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from next week’s Machineseeker German Masters due to medical reasons.

"O’Sullivan was due to play Dylan Emery in his opening match. Emery will now receive a bye to the last 32."

The seven-time world champion has already pulled out of eight events this season, with his regular withdrawals raising fears over his long-term future in the sport as he approaches his 50th birthday.