Ronnie O'Sullivan has suggested female referees and umpires should only officiate women's sport in light of the Serena Williams row.

Tennis legend Williams claimed sexism was rife in the sport after an on-court bust-up with umpire Carlos Ramos during the US Open final.

Chinese referee Peggy Li took charge of O'Sullivan's Shanghai Masters semi-final victory on Friday, and while had no complaints with her performance, he said women's sport should be officiated by females.

“Female referees are very good but maybe females should referee female matches because they understand how a woman thinks.

Serena Williams argues with Carlos Ramos (
Image:
USA TODAY Sports)
O'Sullivan has made the controversial comments (
Image:
PA)

“Maybe men should just referee men’s matches because they know how men think.

“This was what I was thinking when Serena Williams was playing.

“Men and women are different. They think differently. And men don’t really understand women.

“If a woman was refereeing another woman then she can go: ‘Oh, I can understand maybe how she is feeling’.”