Editing Snooker (section)

====World Snooker Tour====
{{Main|World Snooker Tour}}
Professional snooker players compete on the World Snooker Tour, which is a circuit of [[Snooker world rankings|world ranking]] tournaments and invitational events held throughout the snooker season. All competitions are [[Open (sport)|open]] to professional players who have qualified for the tour, and selected amateur players, but most events include a separate qualification stage. Players can qualify for the tour by virtue of their position in the world rankings from prior seasons, by winning continental championships, or through the [[Challenge Tour (snooker)|Challenge Tour]] or [[Q School (snooker)|Q School]] events.<ref name="qualifortour" /> Players on the World Snooker Tour generally gain a {{nowrap|two-year}} "tour card" for participation in the events.<ref name="qualifortour" /> Beginning in the [[2014–15 snooker season|2014–15 season]], some players have also received invitational tour cards in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the sport; these cards are issued at the discretion of the World Snooker Board, and have been awarded to players including [[Steve Davis]], [[James Wattana]], [[Jimmy White]], and [[Stephen Hendry]].<ref name="wpbsa_TourCards" /> Some additional secondary tours have been contested over the years. A {{nowrap|two-tier}} structure was adopted for the [[1997–98 snooker season|1997{{nbnd}}98 season]]; comprising six tournaments known as the WPBSA Minor Tour was open to all professionals, but only ran for one season.{{sfn|Hayton|Dee|2004|pp=166–167}}<ref name="cajt secondary" /> A similar secondary UK Tour was first played from the 1997–98 season, which was renamed the Challenge Tour in 2000, Players Tour Championship in 2010 and returned as the Challenge Tour in 2018.{{sfn|Hayton|Dee|2004|pp=171–174}}<ref name="cajt secondary"/><ref name="wst._Worl" />

The global governing body for professional snooker is the [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]] (WPBSA),<ref name="wpbsa_gov.body" /><ref name="wst_wpbsa" /> founded in 1968 as the Professional Billiards Players' Association.<ref name="wpbsafounding" /><ref name="uia_wpbsa" /> The WPBSA owns and publishes the official rules of snooker,<ref name="wst_wpbsa" /><ref name="BusinessLive" /> and has overall responsibility for policy making in the professional sport of snooker.<ref name="wpbsafounding" /> World Snooker Ltd is responsible for the professional tour which is owned by both the WPBSA and [[Matchroom Sport]].<ref name="QbFUx" />