It is more than a decade since the late Willie Thorne described match-fixing in snooker as “endemic” after revealing he had been offered money to fix a match during his playing career. Allegations of corruption on the baize are nothing new, as evidenced by Thorne’s claims, plus suspensions for Stephen Lee and John Higgins in recent years. Snooker has shown it will get tough when it counts.
Higgins’s suspension in 2010 after he admitted breaching betting rules – the then world No 1 was cleared of match-fixing but found guilty of lesser charges – prompted the sport to set up an integrity unit to stamp out corruption. But on the eve of its most prestigious invitational tournament, snooker finds itself in the midst of a fresh crisis.
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