‘Snooker players need protection from betting companies’

LONDON: The 2015 world snooker champion Stuart Bingham apologised for breaching betting rules on Monday but added that players were over- exposed to betting companies.

The 41-year- old Englishman – who received a six-month ban last week with three of those suspended – said players, especially young ones, needed protecting from bookies.

“I have been exposed to all forms of gambling since I was a teenager,” he said in a statement.

“Most tournaments are sponsored by betting companies. If I was not having wagers with opponents on matches then there were gaming machines in all the clubs,” added Bingham, who was also fined £ 20,000 ( US$ 26,300) for placing bets totalling £ 36,000.

Bingham, who will be banned for three of the most lucrative tournaments including the Masters, said he was “truly sorry” and “did not attach sufficient importance to the rules”.

However, Bingham – who along with Irish cuesman Ken Doherty are the only players to have been crowned world champion at both amateur and professional level – denied one of the findings that he had placed bets on matches he played in.

“In the absence of any direct evidence, the committee arbitrarily concluded that I was responsible for 50 per cent of the betting on that account (including the bets on my matches),” said Bingham.

“I categorically deny that this was the case. I have never bet on a match in which I was playing.” — AFP