Snooker world No. 33 Matt Selt has been hit with a three-month suspended ban and fined £21,000 for his outburst in Saudi Arabia.

Selt, who is the vice chairman of the players’ board, stormed out of his Saudi Arabia Masters match with Pang Junxu when he missed a pot while down 4-3.

The 39-year-old was charged on three counts and accepted the allegations against him, apologising to those involved.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) confirmed that the three charges against Selt were:

• That he was aggressive in his behaviour and was rude and abusive in his language towards a Matchroom Senior Executive in the presence of an important WST Partner.
• That he sent an abusive text to a WPBSA Member
• That he was aggressive in his behaviour and was rude and abusive in his language towards a WPBSA Member.

Selt accepted the charges this month and apologised, having been handed a three-month suspended ban until the end of the 2025/26 season.

He was ordered to pay a fine of £10,000 and the WPBSA’s legal costs of 11,000.

A WPBSA statement said: “On 18th February 2025 he fully accepted the allegations made against him and made a full and wholehearted apology to the persons concerned. It was accepted that Mr Selt was under a significant amount of stress and pressure at the time of the incidents.”

The WPBSA vice-chairman, who will remain on the board despite the incident, will only see his suspension activated if he is found guilty or pleads guilty to any further offence(s).

The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters proved a challenging event for Selt, who arrived at Riyadh only to discover that his cue had been snapped in half during the event.

He took it to a carpenter in the area to have it mended and defeated Allan Taylor in his opening match, but forfeited the second-round match with Pang in the eighth frame while the Chinese potter was leading 10-1.

Selt also had an outburst during the German Masters qualifying for ending his match early and angrily talking to the referee when Artemijs Zizins fluked the winning pot.

“Such a tough loss,” he explained to Stephen Hendry the day after defeat in Sheffield. “It really hurt so, it is what it is. If you’re not allowed to show any emotion after the game has finished then what chance have you got?

“It was a massive game in terms of ranking and that event is so big. You want to be in those series. It’s just tough to take. What do you want me to do, smile?”