Snooker chief Jason Ferguson is ‘fully behind’ Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen as he battles with his mental health and has stressed some of the unique challenges faced by the sport’s top stars.

Antrim’s Allen revealed after his return at this week’s Northern Ireland Open that he recently spent 10 weeks in a mental health clinic and is set to take further time out to consider his future.

The 40-year-old joined a number of snooker’s top names who have spoken eloquently of combating mental health issues during their careers, including Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby.

And Ferguson, the long-time chairman of the sport’s governing body, the WPBSA, and himself a former professional, says snooker’s top stars face a particularly difficult 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 developed a working relationship with the Sporting Chance clinic founded by former Arsenal star Tony Adams, and the mental health charity, MIND.

It funds and co-ordinates well-being initiatives and confidential hotlines, and ensures new tour inductees are gently guided into what can be a radically 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 offer and provide support for Allen, whose return in Belfast was his first match since he lost in the World Championship semi-final 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.”