SNOOKER:THE FORMER senior police officer who will lead the investigation into frame-fixing claims against John Higgins is to widen his focus to include other suspect cases of recent years.
David Douglas, a former detective chief superintendent who was appointed to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association board last month by chairman Barry Hearn, has mooted the formation of an anti-corruption unit to try to halt a flow of match-fixing allegations that could fatally undermine the sport.
The new unit, headed by Douglas, would have the power to reopen any investigation into allegations of match fixing or suspect betting patterns over the last few years and work with the British gambling commission’s new betting integrity unit.
Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett, together with three others, are awaiting a decision from the Scottish procurator fiscal over whether they will be charged over a match in December 2008, while the former world number five, Stephen Lee, was arrested in February on suspicion of cheating.
Those with insider knowledge of the betting markets have long believed that snooker is particularly at risk of corruption.
Hearn said yesterday the News of the Worldrevelations about Higgins and his manager, Pat Mooney, who was forced to resign from the WPBSA board and told he had "no future in snooker", would be dealt with in "days and weeks" rather than "months and years".
Hearn added that the sport could die unless greedy players learn to resist temptation.
He is determined to “cure the malaise” but believes the players are ultimately responsible for snooker’s future.
Mooney accompanied Higgins in Kiev when the pair were filmed allegedly agreeing to accept €300,000 in return for fixing the outcome of four frames in matches to be played later this year.
New world number one Higgins denies any wrong-doing and has vowed to clear his name. In a statement, he said he became worried during the Kiev meeting and suspected those involved were Russian Mafia.
In the statement issued yesterday, Higgins said: “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 onto the plane home.”
However, Hearn said in Sheffield that Higgins should have got in touch from the moment he was aware of any trouble.
“One of the reasons I was so upset with the video evidence, etcetera, was I didn’t get a phone call,” Hearn said.
“If someone approaches, and I can’t stop people outside approaching players, what I can say is it’s their responsibility to report that instance immediately so the authorities are aware and can act on them.”
Hearn revealed Douglas will meet the newspaper’s management today.
“If there is a sickness in snooker, that’s the death knell for snooker unless that sickness is removed, and it will be removed if it exists at all,” Hearn said.
“My personal view and the view of the board is any sickness will be removed in a brutal manner, because we will not tolerate it.
“There’s temptations in life for everybody but our sporting heroes have to be whiter than white. They have to be totally cleansed of anything like this.”
Hearn has known Higgins for about 15 years and was stunned to learn of the claims about him.
“As a friend . . . it doesn’t look good John,” Hearn said.
Guardian Service
Final pair in drawn-out battle
A LATE-NIGHT finish to the World Championship final was inevitable after Australian Neil Robertson and Scotland’s Graeme Dott managed to fit in just six of their scheduled eight frames yesterday afternoon.
Resuming with a 9-7 lead in his first Crucible final, 28-year-old Robertson stayed in front to carry a 12-10 advantage into the concluding session.
Because the afternoon action crawled along – Robertson took four minutes and 40 seconds over one shot – the players were called off shortly after 6pm.
The first four frames of the final session were shared, leaving Robertson 14-12 ahead.
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