A betting and cheating scandal weighs on the sport of snooker. The world association has launched investigations against ten players from China. If the serious allegations are confirmed, former world champion Shaun Murphy demands a lifetime ban.
The gentleman’s sport of snooker has been rocked by a massive cheating scandal for weeks. It’s about illegal agreements. This internationally popular billiard variant is particularly interesting for sports betting (with high stakes) because of the precise way of playing and is susceptible to manipulation. In the meantime, ten players have been banned by the world association WPBSA, including Zhao Xintong (number 9 in the world) and Yan Bingtao (number 16 in the world), two absolute top people. All suspects are from China. The scandal really got rolling in early December when the WPBSA provisionally suspended Lu Ning, Li Hang, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning and Chang Bingyu over possible match-fixing. As early as October, the association had withdrawn its first player, Liang Wenbo.
After being suspended five times in December, snooker legend Jimmy White spoke to Eurosport of a “very bad day” for the sport. And WPBSA boss Jason Ferguson also had to admit that the developments of the past few days “did not reflect well” on the sport. “This is about the global reputation of snooker. If these players are found guilty, we lose our gentlemanly image. And then, in my eyes, they have no right to ever be part of the snooker community again,” demanded Former world champion Sean Murphy in conversation with the portal “TheSportsman”.
Rolf Kalb, the German snooker commentator legend, writes in his current column for eurosport.de: “Obviously, structures have been formed that enable systematic cheating. The damage to snooker is immense. Every surprising result makes you rumble Head.” What makes him optimistic is the world association’s open handling of the serious allegations. “The zero-tolerance attitude of the WPBSA seems believable to me,” said Kalb. “We’re putting as much pressure on as we can. These things are very harmful. We have to show the public that we care and can act quickly,” Ferguson said in an interview with the British newspaper Metro a few days ago.
Cases of cheating have always existed in snooker in the past. Top players were also regularly involved. In 2010, for example, Stephen Lee, a player in the top 8 in the world rankings, was transferred. The Englishman was banned from all official competitions for 14 years. Former snooker “bad boy” Quinten Hann, once number 14 in the world, was also banned for cheating.
A few years ago, multiple world champion John Higgins was among the suspected professionals. The now-defunct tabloid “News of the World” published a video in which Higgings explained that fixing a game was not a problem for him. He later explained his statements with fear of the Eastern European betting mafia. That’s why he “played along”. The association bought this explanation from him and blocked him for only six months.