Ronnie O'Sullivan retirement fears raised by Mark Allen and message sent to snooker chiefs

is no stranger to a retirement threat and world No. 3 has called on World bosses to plan for a future without the Rocket.

The seven-time world champion has not played a professional match in over a month, his last appearance coming in a 4-2 English Open defeat to He Guoqiang on September 19.

He , the first woman ever to make a professional 147, at the International Championship.

But the 48-year-old is winding down his snooker career, playing fewer events than ever, and .

Allen is among many who are fearing for the sport's future once O'Sullivan decides to hang up his cue and called on the Tour chiefs to provide a platform for the next generation to succeed.

"We've got a new era of guys ready to take it on and I think that's great for the sport," Allen told . "It's up to the guys at World Snooker to really push us. I'm not saying that because I'm one of them, but they need to push us.

"If Ronnie decided to retire tomorrow, which he could well do, then what's left? I don't see much promotion of the top players outside of if I'm honest. They really need to take that on board. Things are getting better recently, but they could still improve.

"I think there will be a little drop off when Ronnie leaves whether that be retirement or otherwise. But the game will survive. It's not as big as one player on their own, it's much bigger than that.

"It might take a short time to recover, but there are other good players as well. It's up to WST now to make sure the other players get the warranted coverage so that whenever Ronnie does drift off into the sunset that the game doesn't suffer because we have other stars too."

Allen's comments echo the criticism made by reigning world champion , who has repeatedly spoken out against the perceived lack of coverage he has received since his victory.

He and Trump provided a glimpse into snooker's future , which Wilson won convincingly, but he has continued to harbour gripes with those in charge of the game.

"Same s**t different day," Wilson wrote on Instagram after exiting the British Open. 'Demoted to table 2 again and get found out! What benefits does a world champion get nowadays? Graveyard shift in Brentwood [English Open], table 2 in Saudi every game while being the number 1 seed there! T

"able 2 tonight in Cheltenham and being the highest ranked in the session...unfortunately nothing ever changes with the sport I love. If your face doesn't fit...tough."