Collier was officiating Carter's clash with O'Sullivan that turned nasty on Saturday when the two players barged into each other.

But before that Carter was involved in another controversial incident whereby he was criticised for not shaking Collier's hand at the end of the previous day's session.

Fans slammed Carter on Twitter but Collier has put the record straight and revealed the Captain was quick to say sorry.

He tweeted: "I would like to clarify that @TheCaptain147 didn't ignore me last night, he left a tense playing arena before I got to him to shake hands. Before most people started slating him on social media, he had already text me to apologise. #NoIssues."

It prompted one fan to question Collier on the relationship, writing: "Is it a normal thing for players and referees to have each other as contacts in sport and snooker?"