On 6 June, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association released a statement announcing that O'Sullivan had not signed the official players' contract and would therefore not be eligible to play in any 2012–13 World Snooker event until he did so. On the same day O'Sullivan said that he found the contract "too onerous" and that he was in a stage of his career where he did not wish to make the commitment. On 7 August it was announced that he had now signed the contract and would be playing in October's International Championship and December's UK Championship. After the Shanghai Masters he dropped out of the top sixteen for the first time since entering it in the 1994–95 season, as he was ranked world number 17. O'Sullivan's return to snooker was short-lived, as he withdrew from the inaugural International Championship due to advice from his doctor not to travel. On 6 November O'Sullivan announced that he had withdrawn from every event he had entered and that he would not play for the remainder of the season. However, on 26 February O'Sullivan announced during a press conference that he would return to the game and defend his World Championship title.