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Higgins's snooker future in question over match-fixing claims
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Higgins's snooker future in question over match-fixing claims
AFP - Monday, May 3
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The world of snooker was left reeling after world number one John Higgins, seen here in 2009, was suspended over claims he agreed to take a huge bribe in return for fixing matches.
LONDON (AFP) - – The world of snooker was left reeling Sunday after world number one John Higgins was suspended over claims he agreed to take a huge bribe in return for fixing matches.
Britain's News of the World released a video showing what it said was Higgins and his manager Pat Mooney agreeing to lose frames in four matches later this year in return for a 216,000 pounds bribe.
Higgins denied the claims, suggesting he may unwittingly have been caught up in a Russian mafia racket. But snooker's governing body suspended him from all its tournaments pending a probe, warning he could face a long ban.
"Whilst we're not saying he's guilty of anything... these revelations are such there's a case he has to answer," Barry Hearn, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) told the BBC.
"Clearly if allegations were founded you would be talking about a very, very, very lengthy ban". He indidcated a decision on Higgins's future could be taken within days or weeks.
The revelations emerged on the biggest day in snooker's calendar -- the World Championship final between Scotland's Graeme Dott and Australia's Neil Robertson at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Snooker legend Steve Davis, who unexpectedly knocked 34-year-old Higgins out of the tournament's second round, described it as "the darkest day I've ever experienced in snooker".
"I think the integrity of the game has effectively evaporated overnight," Davis told BBC radio. "It's the lowest ebb it's ever been. What a terrible wake-up call. It's just too awful to contemplate."
In a statement, Higgins insisted his conscience was "100 percent clear" and said he had been "very worried" about the discussion reported by the paper, which took place in Kiev, Ukraine.
"When it was suggested that I throw frames in return for large sums of money, I was really spooked. I just wanted to get out of the hotel and on to the plane home," he said.
"I didn't know if this was the Russian mafia or who we were dealing with. At that stage I felt the best course of action was just to play along with these guys and get out of Russia".
A secretly-shot video posted on the News of the World's website appeared to show Higgins discussing losing frames and missing shots during a meeting with Mooney and an undercover reporter.
According to the newspaper, the millionaire three-time world champion boasted that "it's easy" to lose frames deliberately without being detected.
There is no suggestion that Higgins has thrown any matches up until now and the footage apparently indicates that any deal would apply to the "world series only".
The video ends with the men seeming to seal a deal, shaking hands and toasting each other with a shot of alcohol.
Mooney, who also manages Dott, has resigned from the WPBSA's board in the wake of the report. He told Sky News television that the pair had faced around 24 hours of intimidation prior to the conversation in question.
"This has been a completely coerced and press-motivated moment," he added. "For anyone involved in snooker, this has been manufactured."
The journalist behind the story is Mazher Mahmood, an undercover reporter who has previously dressed up as a "fake sheikh" for stings involving sporting figures like football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and boxer Joe Calzaghe.
Calzaghe, the former world middleweight and light-heavyweight champion, apologised in March for occasionally using cocaine since retiring from the ring following a report in the newspaper.
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