Matchroom Multi Sport CEO Emily Frazer has leapt to defend pool superstar Jayson Shaw following his explosive clash with a fan at the Sportsbet.io Mosconi Cup.
The moment at the ‘Ryder Cup of pool’ — in which Shaw made obscene gestures and invited the heckler outside — has now been viewed over two million times across social media.
Frazer was thrust into the limelight after featuring alongside Barry and Eddie Hearn in their Netflix documentary Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen, highlighting her role as one of the leading female executives in the male-dominated world of sports promotion.
The businesswoman said: “That’s live sport and TV at the end of the day. It’s obviously important to have characters like Shaw.
“We don’t want to stop players from showing any emotion because that emotion is what we all relate to — we all have so many different peaks of emotions.
“It just shows how passionate these players are about this event and how much it means to them.”
The now iconic moment occurred during the 37-year-old’s dominant 5-2 singles win over Skyler Woodward, when a fan reportedly gestured towards the Scottish star.
What initially seemed to be a friendly encounter, with the European captain smiling, quickly turned sour, as Shaw rushed to complain to Team USA staff about the fan.
Live on television, Shaw can be seen calling the fan a ‘w****r’ multiple times and performing similar hand gestures, before pointing his cue at the crowd and stating: ‘Watch, watch. Wait until you go outside.’
Frazer, however, saw the human side to the incident and said: “He’s a family man. He’s lovely off the table. And I’m sure the minute it happened he was probably regretting it.
“It’s not like a generic fan that he’s calling out there. I think there was a bit of a needle with someone that maybe he knows.
“Things get so heated out there like any sort of normal human being, you get frustrated.”
Named after 15-time world champion Willie Mosconi, the cup is an intense annual battle between Europe and the USA noted for its electric atmosphere.
Alternating between the continents, this year’s tournament took place at the iconic Alexandra Palace, with Team Europe securing an incredible sixth consecutive victory over the Americans.
Featured image: World Nine-ball Tour
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