Snooker world rocked by match-fixing scandal
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 Saturday that one alleged plot involved one or more experienced Chinese players coercing younger compatriots to fix elements of games for profit. A second plot is said to entail more conventional fixing ordered by criminals. Both scenarios are thought to involve the exploitation of betting markets.
Ten Chinese players have now been suspended from the World Snooker Tour, including the world No 9 Zhao Xintong, 25, a winner of two ranking events including the 2021 UK Championship, and Yan Bingtao, 22, the world No 16 and the Masters winner in 2021.
The highest ranked of the other players is Lu Ning, age 29 and ranked No 46. The others are former English Open winner Liang Wenbo, 35, ranked No 56, Li Hang, aged 32 (ranked 64), Chang Bingyu, 20 (77), Zhang Jiankang, 24 (85), Chen Zifan, 27 (93), Bai Langning, 20 (126), and 19-year-old Zhao Jianbo, unranked.
The suspensions all relate to alleged offences of ‘manipulating the outcome of matches for betting purposes’ but not all those suspended are suspected necessarily of fixing games. It may be that they allegedly had knowledge of it without being involved.
The MoS can reveal the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) began their fixing probe in October last year after several of their anti-corruption safeguards were triggered. It is understood that a whistleblowing hotline received intelligence of alleged wrongdoing around the time that betting monitors logged unusual activity in some snooker markets, triggering concerns.
The controversy comes at a terrible time for the sport, with the 2023 Masters starting yesterday at Alexandra Palace in London. Zhao Xintong was set to play former world champion Mark Selby in the first round, and Yan Bingtao was due to face former world champion Mark Williams. Both men have been replaced as their futures in the game hang in the balance.
The WPBSA’s investigation is expected to conclude its evidence-gathering phase ‘within weeks, not months’, before decisions are made whether to charge any players.