By Elliott West
“Those who try to corrupt sport are constantly trying to find new ways to avoid our monitoring processes and this outcome must be taken as a lesson to those who think they can avoid detection. If any player is involved in fixing a snooker match, they will be caught and will face severe penalties”.
Jason Ferguson, WPBSA Chairman.
Introduction
It has been several months since we first learnt that ten snooker players had become embroiled in a match-fixing scandal. Up to this point, I have remained neutral on this matter as any person is innocent until proven guilty. Up until the final report was released this week, these charges were merely accusations and every player involved had a right to reply. However, now the report has been released and is in the public domain, it is important to scrutinise it before we put this sorry affair to bed. It is a document that is frankly unpleasant to have to read with those involved admitting a number of jaw-dropping offences, ones that they thought they could commit beneath the radar and get away with.
A Ring of Murky Water
When a bomb explodes, it doesn’t take any prisoners and the same could be said of the snooker match-fixing report. This detailed document paints a grim picture of what a small number of snooker players believed was ethical and certainly doesn’t pull any punches. The biggest offenders in this sorry affair are Liang Wenbo and Li Hang, both receiving life-long bans and having to pay £43,000 in costs. Wenbo who had already brought the game into disrupte previously by being found guilty of assaulting a woman in Sheffield didn’t even bother to attend via the Zoom call hearing, saying to Chinese sources that he has retired and I have heard that he is now playing pool in China.
Both Wenbo and Hang were found guilty of a number of offences including fixing or being party to match-fixing and Wenbo even threatened Chang Bingyu when he refused to fix a match, getting him to take down his account of the incident from Chinese social media site Weibo. Both players then proceeded to try and cover up their actions despite knowing that an enquiry had been set up. Some other big hitters in snooker have also been found guilty including Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong and Lu Ning. Lu received an eight-year suspension, reduced to five years and four months after pleading guilty, Yan, a seven years and six months suspension, reduced to five years after pleading guilty and Zhao two years and 6 months suspension, reduced to one year and eight months after pleading guilty. All three players will have to pay £7,500 in costs.
Five other lesser-known Chinese players will also receive suspensions and fines. These are Zhao Jianbo, Chang Bingyu, Bai Langning, Chan Zifan and Zhang Jiankang with suspensions ranging from five years to almost three years, reduced to what they are after pleading guilty. All five will have to pay £7,500 in costs.
The Outcome and My Thoughts
Despite calls for all of these ten players to being given life-long bans, I personally believe that the inquiry has served the right judgments. I still believe that there is a bigger picture to this than those found guilty, although the inquiry didn’t find any evidence of this. The people who were the instigators of these gambling rackets will walk free as a result of this inquiry and there still remains the threat of Chinese players in various snooker academies being threatened and coerced into match-fixing in the future. Their social bubble has sadly been burst by these organised gangs and will remain vulnerable until this issue is tackled.
Can I say, hand on heart, that match-fixing will never occur in snooker again as a result of this inquiry? I wish I could but sadly there will always be a small percentage of people who feel they can flout the rules and make personal financial gain as a result. However, this outcome does fire a warning shot over the bow of any player who contemplates such actions in the near or distant future. These ten players whether receiving a life-long ban or suspension, have frankly dug their own holes, their snooker careers are in tatters with few probably ever returning to the professional tour. It’s a bitter pill to swallow but let’s face it, we have a code of conduct and a rulebook for a reason and if you cheat them, you lose.
I am afraid snooker is bigger than any of these players and we must protect its reputation at all costs. Cheating is wrong in any form and should always be investigated and punished if found to have occurred in any shape or form. Anyone who thinks they can get away with it is frankly a fool and deluded. Saying that this inquiry has been thorough and rapid in light of all the evidence it has had to digest. It is important to state that these ten players still have until 20 June to appeal these decisions but I very much doubt any will and the verdicts given will stand.
