List_of_snooker_players_investigated_for_match-fixing

List of snooker players investigated for match-fixing

List of snooker players investigated for match-fixing

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Snooker has seen corruption allegations since its inception as a professional sport. Professional player and commentator Willie Thorne considered match-fixing endemic to snooker, noting that he himself was offered a bribe to throw a match.[1] The earliest known case of corruption in the game involved Joe Davis, pioneer of the professional sport and winner of the first 15 world championships, who is believed to have "carried" weaker opponents in multi-session matches to maximise gate revenue.[2] In 1968, The Sunday Times published an article titled "Great TV Snooker Frame-up", which exposed the fixing of non-tournament televised matches for "the artificial production of climaxes". Players Ray Edmonds, John Spencer, Gary Owen and Fred Davis recounted how there had been an understanding that if they were playing a televised match, end with a deciding frame, and that they would play in a way to ensure dramatic tension. Davis said that he regarded these matches as "five frames of comedy: I hate taking part in something that's not genuine".[3]

Liang Wenbo (left) and Li Hang (right) received lifetime bans for match-fixing

Players have sometimes been coerced into fixing results. Thai players in particular have been targeted by cartels. James Wattana once received a death threat as part of a match-fixing attempt,[4] while Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon was the victim of a firebomb attack on his Rotherham home after the governing body opened an investigation into him and fellow Thai player Passakorn Suwannawat.[5]

Match-fixing is difficult to prove. Only four arrests have taken place in the sport's history—Silvino Francisco, Stephen Lee and Scottish practice partners Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett—but no criminal prosecution has ever been brought. In 2022, the sport was rocked by the biggest scandal in its history when a match-fixing ring was unmasked, which led to ten Chinese players—Liang Wenbo, Li Hang, Lu Ning, Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Zhao Jianbo, Chang Bingyu, Bai Langning, Chen Zifan and Zhang Jiankang—being banned for match-fixing offences. Ringleaders Liang and Li both received lifetime bans—the first ever handed out—from the sport. The only other players the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) have successfully prosecuted for match-fixing are Stephen Lee, Leo Fernandez, Yu Delu, Cao Yupeng, David John, Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon and amateur player John Sutton. Four other players—Quinten Hann, John Higgins, Joe Jogia, and Jamie Jones—have served bans on match-fixing related charges.

Players investigated for match-fixing

More information Name, Match ...

Chinese match-fixing ring

Between October 2022 and January 2023, amid the biggest match-fixing investigation in the sport's history,[51][52] the WPBSA suspended ten Chinese players—Liang Wenbo, Li Hang, Lu Ning, Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Zhao Jianbo, Chang Bingyu, Bai Langning, Chen Zifan and Zhang Jiankang—and subsequently brought match-fixing charges against all of them.[53][54][55] In total, they were charged with fixing or conspiring to fix the results of 24 matches between 2014 and October 2022. In addition to the 22 matches listed below, Lu Ning was also charged with fixing two other matches in the 2014–15 snooker season.[41]

The bulk of the match-fixing was arranged by Liang Wenbo and Li Hang, sometimes working with each other and, at other times, independently. The two players had a slightly different modus operandi; whilst Li was often cautious and conducted his fixes with a view to evading detection, Liang's focus was on maximising financial gain and he often intimidated or threatened the younger players. The inquiry heard from three players who were ultimately not charged: Cao Yupeng, Xu Si and Yuan Sijun. Cao was approached twice by Liang but he and his wife declined to carry out the fixes. Xu Si also refused to fix a result when Liang approached him. Yuan was regarded as an "unimpressive" witness, but ultimately no charges were brought against him.[41]

The cases were heard by an independent disciplinary tribunal, and in June 2023 all ten players were successfully prosecuted on various match-fixing charges in 20 of the 24 matches. Seven of the ten players were all also found guilty of betting offences. Liang and Li both received lifetime bans from the sport, whilst the other eight players received bans ranging from five years and four months to one year and eight months, backdated to the beginning of their suspensions. Liang and Li were each required to pay £43,000 in costs, and the other eight were each required to pay £7,500 in costs.[39][40]


More information Liang Wenbo, Li Hang ...

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    At Stephen Lee's original hearing, £40,000 in costs were awarded against him.[18] This was increased to £75,000 after Lee unsuccessfully appealed,[19] and he incurred a further £30,000 in costs after an earlier appeals panel was forced to recuse itself after finding him to be an unreliable witness.[20] The remainder of his appeal saw a further £20,000 awarded against him, bringing the total amount to £125,000.[21]
  2. [N 2]
    The WPBSA statement following the judgement against Li Hang incorrectly stated that he had been found guilty of fixing the results of five matches, and this was widely reported by the media such as the BBC. Paragraph 261 of the judgement clearly states that Li was found guilty of fixing the results of seven matches, comprising charges 11b–11h.

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