SNOOKER:WORLD NUMBER one John Higgins will return to the sport in November after he was yesterday cleared of agreeing to fix matches but suspended and fined over two lesser charges.
Higgins had been suspended since May, when the sport was rocked by a report in the News of the Worldthat alleged he had agreed to lose frames in four matches in return for €300,000 during a secretly recorded meeting in Ukraine.
The three-time world champion was cleared following a two-day tribunal that pinned the blame on his former business partner Pat Mooney, who was banned from the sport for life despite also escaping the match-fixing charges on a technicality.
“I am pleased Sport Resolutions and WPBSA have concluded, after a thorough and fair investigation, that I was not guilty of any dishonesty and had no intention to fix a match and no intention to do anything corrupt,” said Higgins. “If I am guilty of anything it is of naivety and trusting those who, I believed, were working in the best interests of snooker and myself.”
There was no suggestion Higgins had ever been involved in any match-fixing related conversation prior to his arrival in Kiev, Ian Mill QC accepted, and he went along with the suggestions only because he felt threatened and because Mooney told him to.
Barry Hearn, the World Snooker chairman who has vowed to set up a new anti-corruption unit to clean up a sport that has three other players under police investigation for match-fixing issues, said: “It was a very professional, concise and clear judgment and we want to move on.
“I think it was made clear who the culprit is.”
Higgins was cleared of the most serious charges – of agreeing to accept a bribe and agreeing to engage in corrupt or fraudulent conduct – but found guilty of failing to report the illegal approach and intentionally giving the impression he was prepared to act in breach of betting rules.
He was fined €90,000 plus €12,000 in costs and banned for six months. With four months already served, he is likely to be able to return in time for the UK Championships in December.
The ruling against Mooney, who was on the governing body’s board at the time, was damning. Mill concluded that his conduct was “of a completely different order of seriousness”.
He found that Mooney had discussed the possibility of throwing frames with the undercover reporter – Mazher Mahmood – for weeks before the trip to Kiev.
Unbeknown to Higgins, Mooney had taken him to Kiev “specifically to discuss the matter” of throwing frames but had not raised the possibility the subject might come up until minutes before the meeting started.
Speaking outside the hearing, Higgins said he was pleased he was found not guilty of any dishonesty and “had no intention to fix a match and no intention to do anything corrupt”.
Higgins continued: “The statement I made in May immediately after the newspaper accusations was 100 per cent true then and they are 100 per cent true today. I have never been involved in any form of snooker match-fixing.
“In my 18 years playing professional snooker, I’ve never deliberately missed a shot, never intentionally lost a frame or a match. I am glad the WPBSA’s view of the events in Kiev reflects that statement.”
Guardian Service
