Shaun Murphy accuses Hossein Vafaei of ‘sacrilege’ after Crucible criticism

“I don’t want the snooker to leave here. I don’t think anyone wants to leave apart from Hossein and Ronnie O’Sullivan.”

Shaun Murphy insists the World Snooker Championship must stay in Sheffield (Martin Rickett/PA)

Former world champion Shaun Murphy has accused rival Hossein Vafaei of “sacrilege” after the Iranian launched a scathing attack on the conditions at the Crucible Theatre.

Vafaei described the venue as “smelly” and said the practice room was like a garage in the wake of his 10-5 World Championship first-round defeat to Judd Trump on Sunday.