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The match-fixing scandal rocking snooker is believed to involve criminal gangs, with leading players bullying their younger rivals into cheating.
A source close to the situation told The Mail on Sunday that an alleged plot involved one or more experienced Chinese players forcing their younger compatriots to fix game elements for profit.
A second plot is said to involve more conventional fixes ordered by criminals. Both scenarios are believed to involve the exploitation of betting markets.
World number nine Zhao Xintong is among ten billiards players who have been suspended
Ten Chinese players have now been suspended from the World Snooker Tour, including world number 9 Zhao Xintong, 25, the winner of two ranking events including the 2021 UK Championship, and Yan Bingtao, 22, the world number 16 and winner of the Masters in 2021.
The highest ranked of the other players is Lu Ning, 29, ranked 46th. The others are former English Open winner Liang Wenbo, 35, ranked 56th, Li Hang, 32 (rank 64), Chang Bingyu, 20 (77), Zhang Jiankang, 24 (85), Chen Zifan, 27 (93), Bai Langning, 20 (126), and Zhao Jianbo, 19, unranked.
All of the suspensions relate to alleged ‘game tampering for betting’ offences, but not all those suspended are necessarily suspected of game-fixing. It may be that they were supposedly aware of it without being involved.
The MoS can reveal that the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) began its settlement investigation in October last year after several of its anti-corruption safeguards were activated. A whistleblowing hotline is understood to have received information about alleged wrongdoing at the time betting monitors recorded unusual activity in some snooker markets, raising concerns.
Masters 2021 winner Yan Bingtao (left) has also been suspended amid a match-fixing scandal
The controversy comes at a dire time for the sport, with the 2023 Masters kicking off on Sunday at London’s Alexandra Palace. Zhao Xintong was set to play former world champion Mark Selby in the first round, and Yan Bingtao was scheduled to face former world champion Mark Williams. Both men have been replaced as their future in the game hangs in the balance.
The WPBSA investigation is expected to conclude its evidence-gathering phase ‘within weeks, not months’, before decisions are made on whether to charge any players.
Snooker’s governing body has made a concerted effort to expand the sport to China since the mid-2000s, hosting more events in the country and helping to develop talent there. There were a handful of Chinese players ranked in the world’s top 100 in 2008, for example, and today there are 24, including eight of those suspended.
Masters champion Neil Robertson said it was “important to get to the bottom” of the allegations.
“We are pushing as hard as we can because this kind of thing is very damaging and we have to show the public that we can take quick action,” WBPSA president Jason Ferguson told The Mail on Sunday.
Ferguson did not comment on any specific aspects of the investigation, nor did he give any details about the location or extent of the matches that may have been rigged. “But I can assure the fans that we know we have to be completely clean, so they can have faith that every ball played is being played with integrity,” he said.
Neil Robertson, the Masters champion, says he is confident the investigation will get to the root of the allegations. “The most important thing to get to the bottom of is how this all happened, and I’m confident the investigation will,” said the former world champion, who begins his Masters defense against Shaun Murphy at today’s event.
We do not know the severity of each individual case. And as the cases are tackled, you have to find out how so many got involved that there was enough evidence to suspend them.
‘Are there even sinister organizations involved? Are they getting enough education? I know they get some. But everyone should know that this is illegal, it’s not just a slap on the wrist and it could ruin their careers.
“Obviously I prefer not to talk about it, and only about defending my title. But if you’re a big player and one that’s been on the market for a while, you have to address it.”