by elliott west
Stephen Lee was probably one of the most recognised players in snooker until recently and impressed his audience with a game that was accompanied by Rolls Royce cue action that only is equaled by Shaun Murphy currently. A player who turned professional in 1992, he rose up the ranking list and climbed to a high of number five. His game dipped before he returned to form in the 2011/12 season and compiled 184 centuries in his career.
I was inspired to write this piece after learning that an online petition has been mounted to campaign for his return to the sport with 783 signatures. Lee was banned from snooker after the governing found him guilty of match-fixing. Deliberately losing matches for financial gain, a series of matches were cited including matches against Ken Doherty and Marco Fu in the Malta Cup in 2008, losing the first frame against Stephen Hendry and Mark King at the 2008 UK Championship and losing matches with a pre-determined score against Neil Robertson at the 2008 Malta Cup and to Mark Selby at the 2009 China Open.
Lee denied the charges and no police action was taken. His suspension from the sport is due to end on October 12th, 2024, ironically the same date as his 50th birthday after serving a 12-year ban.This petition for me is flawed and sees this player through rose-tinted glasses. I have often thought whether Lee should be allowed to make a return and my conclusion has always been the same; NO! Any sportsman is there to represent their sport and part of this is to provide a clean image. Lee crossed a line that was fuelled by financial greed and led him to bring snooker into disrepute. The argument that he has superior cue action and will have served his time is frankly very weak. Stephen knew what he was doing and the probable consequences, yet he still chose to go ahead and carried out these fraudulent actions.
I may have had an ounce of sympathy for this man but after his ban, I came across him on social media where he was attempting to sell various products including cigarettes at knock-down prices. Lee’s reputation is in tatters and any return to the sport would go against why there are rules in place. They are there for a reason and frankly, snooker doesn’t need this media migraine again.
Stephen was a great player and won five major tournaments on the professional tour including the China and Welsh Open. However, that ended when he carried out illegality. He may have attempted to atone his ways by setting up a coaching academy but I am afraid this doesn’t cut the mustard. What makes it worse was that Lee also committed fraud by putting up his cue up for sale and never sending the cue to the buyer pocketing the money paid.
Truthfully this is despicable behaviour and just confirms why I don’t want him back in snooker. Lee briefly tainted our sport but his actions still resurrect their ugly head in other forms from time to time. The temptation is a powerful force but it can’t be given in to, otherwise what is the point in taking part in the first place?
All sports must strive to remain clean and stamp out irregularities at the earliest opportunity. I am afraid Stephen Lee’s play will remain in a celluloid can and opening it would only bring back the ghosts of the incident itself.
