Mark Allen has received the full backing of WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson as the Northern Ireland snooker star returns to action following a 10-week stay at a mental health clinic, with Ferguson stressing the unique pressures faced by the sport's top professionals

Snooker chief Jason Ferguson has declared he is 'fully behind' Mark Allen as the Northern Irish star battles with his mental health, highlighting some of the unique pressures faced by the sport's elite players.

Allen revealed following his return at this week's Northern Ireland Open that he had recently spent 10 weeks in a mental health clinic and is planning to take further time away from the sport to reflect on his future.

The 40 year old joins a number of snooker's biggest names who have spoken openly about their struggles with mental health throughout their careers, including Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby.

Ferguson, the long-standing chairman of the sport's governing body, the WPBSA, and a former professional himself, believes snooker's top players face a particularly demanding set of pressures.

"I do think that snooker is extremely challenging mentally," Ferguson told the Press Association. "People would say I'm biased saying this, but I think it's the most difficult sport in the world.

"It's a one-on-one sport and nobody can stop you thinking about things when you're sat in that chair. Not only does your technical skill have to be an an optimal level at all times, but your mental strength has got to be the same.

"You spend so much time away from home and you can go from the high of being in that arena in front of a live audience and television, to the next day sitting in your house on your own.

"You've got yourself up there to perform, and the emotions have drained out of you. If you add that to the things that are going on in your life, it's bound to have an effect on you."

WPBSA Players, the sport's players' association, has established a working relationship with the Sporting Chance clinic, founded by former Arsenal star Tony Adams, alongside mental health charity MIND.

The organisation funds and coordinates well-being programmes and confidential helplines, while ensuring newly professional players are carefully eased into what can be a vastly different environment.

"I remember the day I turned professional on my 21st birthday in 1990," added Ferguson. "I suddenly lost all my friends because most of them had stayed as amateur players, there I was on my own playing on a professional tour without those people around me.

"That for me was the first moment of saying we need to have things in place for players.

"I know for a fact that over the years, so many players have had challenges, and that's why the services that are in place now are absolutely critical to the sport."

Both the WPBSA and World Snooker Tour continue to extend their support to Allen, whose appearance in Belfast marked his first competitive match since his World Championship semi-final defeat to Wu Yize in April.

Ferguson added: "Mark's statement was very impressive and fair play to him for getting it out in public because people are worried about him.

"Mark is a very robust player, he's one of the toughest players the sport has ever seen, and he's a lovely lad as well. Everybody here is fully behind him."