Snooker Launches Anti-corruption Unit
The world governing body of snooker has launched an anti-corruption unit and is proposing lifetime bans for anyone involved in snooker caught betting on the sport.??
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn has hired in former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord John Stevens to lead the unit.??
Lord Stevens is the chairman of Quest, an investigations and risk mitigation company that has led inquiries into alleged corruption in football and Formula One.??
Speaking at the launch of the unit, Hearn said: ‘It’s vital for the future of snooker that we stamp out corruption and make sure we are clean, and perceived as clean by the viewing public.’??
World snooker champion John Higgins was cleared of frame-fixing allegations earlier this month but he was banned for six months and fined £75,000 for not reporting an illegal approach made to him over throwing matches.??
Higgins, who is still serving a six-month suspension, is expected to work with the unit to educate youngsters on the dangers that he found himself in.??
Hearn said that any wrongdoing will not be tolerated: ‘We must stop the problems at the root and provide a massive deterrent. Therefore, it is our intention to give life bans to players found in breach of the most serious rules.’
