O'Sullivan took the spotlight away from the first round of the Betfred World Championship on Sunday when he followed victory over Gary Wilson by accusing World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn and his board of bullying and intimidation in a number of recent incidents.
Hearn sternly refuted the five-time word champion's claims, but the 41-year-old's comments are the talk of the Crucible.
Four-time champion Higgins (pictured) addressed the issue after booking his own place in the second round with a 10-6 victory over Martin Gould.
"I have a degree of sympathy for him," he told BBC Radio Five Live.
"If I am led to believe what I have heard about how he was reprimanded, it is out of order.
"He has a lot to take on his shoulders in this sport because he is the biggest name – along with Ding (Junhui), the biggest name in the Far East.
"The game would be a lot poorer without him."
In a television interview with BBC Two, Higgins elaborated on the subject of player contracts and the requirements placed on them.
"There are things in the players' contracts that are too severe but the only way we can change that is if all the top players got together and stood together, tried to get things taken out," he said.
"But I don't think every top player is going to stand together."
Northern Ireland's Mark Allen also had his say on the row.
"I'm convinced the two of them (O'Sullivan and Hearn) sit in a room together and contrive these things," he told BBC Two.
"Ronnie sometimes gets on like a bit of a spoilt brat ... Barry's the big man shooting him down. At times he speaks to people like he's speaking to a child.
"I think it's a clash of personalities, I don't think there's much in it."
