Hearn To Clean Up Snooker
World Snooker chief executive Barry Hearn has reacted to reported match fixing allegations against leading player John Higgins by saying that any potential wrong-doings will be dealt with ‘in a brutal manner’.
World number one Higgins and his manager Pat Mooney allegedly agreed to take a £261,000 bribe to fix certain frames during matches.
Hearn said: ‘If there is a sickness in snooker, it will be the death knell of snooker if it is not removed. If John is proven guilty the penalties will be very harsh indeed.’
Higgins has been suspended pending an investigation during the Betfair World Championships.
‘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,’ said Higgins.
But Hearn admitted that he would take sever action against Higgins if it was proven he was guilty of match fixing: ‘…as a friend, which I would classify myself to John Higgins because I’ve known him for 20 years, I told him ‘it doesn’t look good, John’.
‘I actually believe he’s an honest man but I can’t ignore the evidence in front of me and the damage potentially it could do to the game,’ added Hearn.
In February 2006, Australian Quinten Hann was handed an 8-year ban from the sport after being found guilty of throwing a match at the China Open in return for money.
