– There is a limit to snooker too, that the sport dies because no sponsors will be involved as it is just cheating, says Eurosport commentator Edwin Ingebrigtsen. Last week, the association for professional pool and snooker players (WPBSA) came with the shocking verdict, which led to both Liang Wenbo and Li Hang being banned for life from the sport of snooker. At the same time, a further eight Chinese players, all of whom admitted guilt, were banned from the sport for periods ranging from 20 to 64 months. CHESS SNOOKER PROFILE: Neil Robertson. Photo: DALE DE LA REY / AFP – It is particularly shocking because of the speech. Ten players. You very rarely see that in cases from other sports. And that’s almost 10 percent of the tour, says Neil Robertson, former world champion and world champion (2010) to The Sportsman. – We regard Liang’s behavior as particularly shameful, wrote the independent disciplinary committee to the union in the judgement. They base it, among other things, on the fact that 36-year-old Liang has put pressure on other Chinese players, several of them younger and easily influenced. The same reasoning is also put forward against 32-year-old Li, certain behavior is called “completely unacceptable”. Punishment of the players Liang Wenbo – banned for life Li Hang – banned for life Lu Ning – banned for five years and four months Yan Bingtao – banned for five years Zhao Xintong – banned for one year and eight months Zhao Jianbo – banned for two years and four months Chang Bingyu – banned for two years Bai Lagning – banned for two years and eight months Chen Zifan – banned for five years Zhang Jiankang – banned for two years and eleven months Liang was suspended already in October 2022, while the other players were suspended in December and January. Both Liang and Li have been sentenced to pay 43,000 British pounds, 578,000 Norwegian kroner in costs, while the other eight players must pay 7,500 British pounds, 100,000 Norwegian kroner each. In total, the ten players must cover court costs of NOK 1.98 million. Alleged to have paid bribes In the judgment, a number of details about the various campaigns that were fixed are revealed, several of which are supported by presented message exchanges. One of the matches that will be highlighted is between Zhao Jianbo and Aaron Hill in the qualifiers for the Northern Ireland Open. There, Zhao explained that he was contacted by Liang and offered 4,000 British pounds, which corresponds to around 54,000 Norwegian kroner, in order not to win more than two games in the match. Hill won the match 4–0 and according to Zhao he was paid in cash through a friend of Liang’s. In total, a profit of 30,000 British pounds, in excess of 400,000 Norwegian kroner, was generated as a result of the match. According to Lu Ning, who received the longest punishment apart from Liang and Li, he suspected that the match was fixed. Therefore, he must have called Li, who confirmed that the match was fixed. According to Lu, after the match he was approached by Liang, who gave what is referred to in the judgment as “hush money” – a bribe so that Lu would not remain silent. Li apologizes for the match-fixing debts, but admits to having deleted some messages. The committee believed that Li did not provide them with any satisfactory evidence. Liang, for his part, never spoke to the committee. THE BIG SCENE: Liang Wenbo, in the background, has his best quarter-final since the WC in 2008. Here, after losing in the first round in 2010, against snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan. Photo: PAUL ELLIS / AFP Started as a 16-year-old Several of the eight other players have said that they followed instructions from Li and Liang because they were afraid of or felt threatened by the two older players, and that Liang should have asked for more to delete messages to hide violations of the law. Chang Bingyu wrote the following in a post on Weibo, which was later deleted: – Liang called with a threatening tone and told me that he had seen a lot of money on my fight against Jamie Jones, without my being aware of it. He asked me to lose 1-4. I was afraid that he had invested so much money and that if I refused, he would create problems for me. So reluctantly I agreed. He said he would give me money afterwards. Because of my fear, I even ended up losing 1-4 as planned. The majority of the matches that the WPBSA believes are fixed or attempted to be fixed are from July to October 2022. In addition, there are also a small number of matches back in time, with the first back in 2014. The star player Yan Bingtao, who reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup last year , has admitted several cases of match-fixing – with the first case going back to the summer of 2016. He was then only 16 years old. – There are ten Chinese players who are drawn and it is a clear sign that there is something seriously wrong in the Chinese snooker community. The scope is a bit surprising and what players are involved. There are players, three or four of them are well-established players who make good money playing snooker. I can’t understand why they would cheat then, says Ingebrigtsen. COMMENTATOR: Edwin Ingebrigtsen has worked with the sport of snooker for a number of years at Eurosport. He is also a leader in Oslo Snooker. Photo: Privat – The doping of snooker Chairman of the WPBSA, Jason Ferguson, says it is heartbreaking to see that young players have broken the rules due to “pressure from two experienced players”. – I am happy that the disciplinary committee has no findings that indicate that there is a greater unculture in the sport of snooker, says Ferguson. This is something Ingebrigtsen is very doubtful about. – I don’t believe it at all. When there are ten players from the same country, it is a big problem. They are not pleased that their sport is being dragged into the mud. They must protect their brand. It may be that they are more inclined to tone it down a bit and give a signal now with strict penalties, while at the same time saying that it is not a major problem, says Ingebrigtsen and calls it “the doping of snooker”. It is not the first time match-fixing has been a problem in the snooker community. In 2013, Stephen Lee, who was ranked number five in the world at his best, was banned for twelve years for fixing seven matches in 2008 and 2009, while John Sutton and Leo Fernandez were sentenced to six years and 15 months respectively in 2015 and 2016.
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