The Maguire/Burnett Betting Saga

celticfc

From the BBC:

Snooker pair in police bet probe

Two professional snooker players have been questioned by police over alleged irregular betting patterns.

World number two Stephen Maguire, 28, and 33-year-old Jamie Burnett, both from Glasgow, were later released without charge by Strathclyde Police.

The allegations relate to a match between the two players at the Maplin UK Championship on 14 December 2008.

Police said a report would be submitted to the procurator fiscal's office when inquiries were complete. A spokesman said they had been questioned for about four hours before being released.

Stephen Maguire won his first round match against Jamie Burnett 9-3 at the Maplin UK Championship in Telford.

Prior to the game, a number of bookmakers suspended betting after large amounts of money were placed on Maguire to win 9-3.

After the game, the 33-year-old denied any wrongdoing and said he knew the situation and the pressure had affected his play.

World Snooker launched a formal investigation and instructed specialist lawyers to help in the case. Strathclyde Police launched its own inquiry in April.

Stephen Maguire turned professional in 1998 and is currently ranked second in the world. He has won four ranking tournaments - the European Open and UK Championship in 2004, the Northern Ireland Trophy in 2007 and the China Open in 2008.

Jamie Burnett turned professional in 1992 and is currently ranked 40th in the world. His best performances in world ranking tournaments were reaching the quarter-finals of the German Open in 1997 and Grand Prix in 1998.

110 Sport who manage Stephen Maguire have released the following statement:

Stephen Maguire was questioned by officers of Strathclyde Police today over alleged irregular betting patterns relating to a match between Maguire and Jamie Burnett at the Maplin UK Championship on 14 December 2008.

Maguire’s legal representative Peter Forbes said; “Police spoke to Stephen, their questioning and points put to him based upon information given to them during their initial interview with my client in the spring of this year. Having answered those questions, Stephen was released without charge.”

Maguire, 28, added; “I have nothing to say other than I can be doing without this. I wish this was over and done with and that I didn’t have these allegations hanging over me so I could concentrate entirely on playing snooker.

“All I want to do now is forget today and concentrate on preparing for playing in China next week.”

There will be no further comment from Stephen Maguire or 110sport Group on this matter.

This is ridiculous that it's taken 10 months and still no resolution.

arnhem44

It has dragged on alright,if the players are innocent and committed no wrong doing then it can't be easy to concentrate on ones game to be fair,but if there guilty then they deserve to be punished.Alot of sports these days are being dragged through the mud for money,soccer,cricket ect ,ect