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Match fixing in snooker has unfortunately been in operation since the very early days of the game with reports of Joe Davis having "carried" weaker opponents in multi-session matches to maximise the gate revenue. This trait continued through the history of the sport with players such as Willie Thorne and Alex Higgins claiming they were offered large sums of money to lose matches.
Players may not enter a match fixing agreement on their own free will, being subject to threats of violence if they fail to submit. The lucrative criminal act is largely based in the Far East where gangs devise money making scams in various sports, using their players to infiltrate the individual sport and extract multimillion currency earnings.
Although this happens, World Snooker has been very vigilant to attempt to stamp out this criminal activity in recent years. The main punishment being heavy fines or bans from the game. Recognisable figures such as Quentin Hann, Stephen Lee and Joe Joggia have fallen to the criminal sword and as a result are no longer seen on the professional tour.
Other top seeds such as John Higgins have been entrapped, thinking they were involved in a business deal but foolishly agreeing to a fee for throwing a match. The former newspaper, The News of the World pounced on this scoop and printed it as a front page Sunday exclusive. Nothing was ever proven but Higgins was clearly shaken up from the experience, breaking down in tears when he won his first match post incident.
Compare this to Stephen Lee. Lee was one of the best cueists at the time with pundits describing his cue action as Rolls Royce. Lee however became greedy and got caught fixing a match. After a lengthy suspension, his case went to a disciplinary hearing where Lee pleaded innocent However the committee ruled against him and he was ordered to pay a fine and had a lengthy ban imposed on him. This finished Lee’s career and he hasn’t been seen in the public eye since.
Fortunately the cancer of match fixing hasn’t become rife in snooker which bodes well because without the right punitive measures, foreign criminals could easily infiltrate snooker and ruin the careers of may more. When a player is caught taking part in any such activity and it is proved, then there should be a 25 year ban from the sport instead of the 10 year ban imposed on Yu Delu and 6 year ban for Cao Yupeng recently.Only then will anyone in the game realise that this activity is abhorrent and contrary to the true nature of the game.
Players may not enter a match fixing agreement on their own free will, being subject to threats of violence if they fail to submit. The lucrative criminal act is largely based in the Far East where gangs devise money making scams in various sports, using their players to infiltrate the individual sport and extract multimillion currency earnings.
Although this happens, World Snooker has been very vigilant to attempt to stamp out this criminal activity in recent years. The main punishment being heavy fines or bans from the game. Recognisable figures such as Quentin Hann, Stephen Lee and Joe Joggia have fallen to the criminal sword and as a result are no longer seen on the professional tour.
Other top seeds such as John Higgins have been entrapped, thinking they were involved in a business deal but foolishly agreeing to a fee for throwing a match. The former newspaper, The News of the World pounced on this scoop and printed it as a front page Sunday exclusive. Nothing was ever proven but Higgins was clearly shaken up from the experience, breaking down in tears when he won his first match post incident.
Compare this to Stephen Lee. Lee was one of the best cueists at the time with pundits describing his cue action as Rolls Royce. Lee however became greedy and got caught fixing a match. After a lengthy suspension, his case went to a disciplinary hearing where Lee pleaded innocent However the committee ruled against him and he was ordered to pay a fine and had a lengthy ban imposed on him. This finished Lee’s career and he hasn’t been seen in the public eye since.
Fortunately the cancer of match fixing hasn’t become rife in snooker which bodes well because without the right punitive measures, foreign criminals could easily infiltrate snooker and ruin the careers of may more. When a player is caught taking part in any such activity and it is proved, then there should be a 25 year ban from the sport instead of the 10 year ban imposed on Yu Delu and 6 year ban for Cao Yupeng recently.Only then will anyone in the game realise that this activity is abhorrent and contrary to the true nature of the game.
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