John Higgins match fixing claims

aDeener

FireballPitcher wrote: »

I really don't understand your rationale at all for this, its quite baffling.

You can't bring profit into it, betting in any scenario is on yourself is wrong. Its right or its wrong, you can't start quantifying how much betting is allowed and how much is not. Competitiveness is all about reaching the pinnacle, and if athletes aren't motivated to get to the top, why bother. It's not as if Higgins was getting nothing for losing, he still made a mint off his sponsors and would have taken home a nice 2nd place. Whether he makes a profit or not is irrelevant, its still betting on himself which is illegal, the only thing that has saved Higgins here is that the bet wasn't accepted, and there's no offence of "attempted betting", there's only one of "betting".

There's too much at stake. Punters pay thousands in the bookies, sponsors pay thousands to get behind honest successful sportsmen, the Commission recieves money because its a competitive sport. Snooker is already on its knees since cigarette advertising was banned. If I was a company looking to invest in the sport, why would I invest in it or a player if it's proven that the players aren't 100% motivated as they have a fall back. It compromises the integrity of the sport. There's a reason why there is money prizes for second place etc.

Whats wrong with betting on yourself to win?

Blobby George

aDeener wrote: »

Whats wrong with betting on yourself to win?

You might try to win.

Psychedelic

So what's the latest news on this?

Barry Hearne said there would be a swift resolution to this. It's nearly 2 weeks now since the story first broke.

Schnoz

Is there any update on this? I just searched through all the snooker websites and cant find anything! Can anyone shed some light on this?!?

mark renton

Schnoz wrote: »

Is there any update on this? I just searched through all the snooker websites and cant find anything! Can anyone shed some light on this?!?

yes - nobody cares anymore, after everyone had their say they realised they would have done the same themselves, after all it was only a frame here and there - reward to risk factor was well worth it - again, unlucky John!!

giant_midget

Schnoz wrote: »

Is there any update on this? I just searched through all the snooker websites and cant find anything! Can anyone shed some light on this?!?

Im curious about this too...I reckon there will be big news in the next month or so

Dave147

It appears John hasn't been handling the recent media scrutiny so well, he finally boiled over.. See below

Ayrtonf7

Thats Epic

Setun

Article from the guardian about the NOTW editing the tape: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/jun/21/john-higgins-newsoftheworld

userod

Any update on this lads? It seems to have dissolved...

D_murph

Sorry for the thread bump guys but was anything ever done about this since? I have searched and searched online and found nothing.

Barry Hearn stated on the news back then that the matter would be dealt with in a matter of days and weeks rather than months or years but it looks like that was not the case so far .

Ghost Train

Good bit of info here http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/07/26/exclusive-john-higgins-to-face-%E2%80%98match-fix%E2%80%99-hearing-in-september-amid-confusion-over-evidence-as-newspaper-requests-he-doesn%E2%80%99t-sue-260701/

says september for some type of hearing,

* the case was passed by David Douglas to Sport Resolutions (UK) in early July.
* Higgins and Mooney have both been issued with a “charge sheet” by the WPBSA, and while this website does not know the precise charges, it is understood they are “general” including failure to report an approach about betting / fixing, and bringing the game into disrepute.
* the WPBSA investigation established that Mooney (as he himself always said) had much more contact with the News of the World’s reporters, who posed as fake businessmen and fake gangsters during the sting, than Higgins, who one source described as having “peripheral involvement”.
* there was a “case management conference” in London last Friday, hosted by Sport Resolutions (UK) and involving legal teams from all sides, and Douglas, but not the News of the World. The purpose of the conference was to discuss hearing dates and to debate the availability and admissibility, or otherwise, of certain evidence.
* the tribunal hearing in early September will be chaired, according to a source, by Ian Mill, QC, a leading silk with an array of sports law cases on his CV.

koppy

amazing how quiet this all went..

D_murph

Ghost Train wrote: »

Good bit of info here http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/07/26/exclusive-john-higgins-to-face-%E2%80%98match-fix%E2%80%99-hearing-in-september-amid-confusion-over-evidence-as-newspaper-requests-he-doesn%E2%80%99t-sue-260701/

says september for some type of hearing,

Thanks .

koppy wrote: »

amazing how quiet this all went..

I agree. I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out in the end.

Dr.Silly

http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/higgins-to-learn-his-fate-472442.html

DubGF

I hope the NOTW come out of this with their reputation in tatters.

I always thought it was a setup and the stuff I am reading lately seems to back this up.

DubGF

koppy

hope your right dubGF..if it is a set up is sad that it was able to go this far.

really hope he is innocent..!

zack01

Believe me guys he is innocent, I said it here when the story first broke and again in another thread, the guy is as straight as they come.
I just hope he can take to the table again soon, I'd reckon the Grand Prix in October will the event he makes his first appearance of the season in, he will have missed two ranking events and at least 6 players tour tournaments.
I just hope when he is cleared he takes that rag to the cleaners.

Chucky the tree

zack01 wrote: »

Believe me guys he is innocent, I said it here when the story first broke and again in another thread, the guy is as straight as they come.
I just hope he can take to the table again soon, I'd reckon the Grand Prix in October will the event he makes his first appearance of the season in, he will have missed two ranking events and at least 6 players tour tournaments.
I just hope when he is cleared he takes that rag to the cleaners.

I don't think there is any chance of that happening. If there was it would have happened already.

mike65

They have come clean - Higgins and his manager. FFS.

linkage to follow

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/John-Higgins-Snooker-Star-And-His-Manager-Admit-Match-Fixing/Article/201009115718264?lpos=UK_News_Top_Stories_Header_2&lid=ARTICLE_15718264_John_Higgins%3A_Snooker_Star_And_His_Manager_Admit_Match-Fixing

DubGF

its breaking on twitter alright, unbelivable if true

Sky Sports news have it as breaking news now

His manager has denied he admitted this.

I am keeping stum from now on, too much BS out there

Kristopherus

Thats putting it up to Barry Hearn now. His brash manner is unlikely to win him a multitude of friends and if he now goes gung ho after Higgins he needs to be very careful that his Grand Scheme for Snooker dose'nt come crashing down on him. Of course he can always go to China !. Interesting times in Snooker !!!

giant_midget

wow...that is it then..honesty is best - they were right to admit that they tried to fix matches. Why did he protest his innocence all the way?

Hope hsi ban is not too long as he is a fine snooker player

zack01

Calm down boys, Sky have retracted the story, another organisation Higgins can sue once he's cleared!

giant_midget

zack01 wrote: »

Calm down boys, Sky have retracted the story, another organisation Higgins can sue once he's cleared!

Just seen that Zack.

Tried loading that web page a number of times now and its gone...

zack01

I'm getting the latest from the WSA press officer who is emailing me from Shanghai!
The second I hear I'll post, but I wouldn't expect any outcome today.

No sign of an apology from Sky then??

DubGF

I think we all know Sky will not apologise !!!

mike65

Ohh! Sky "not wrong for long" yet again?

Tin_Cup

World Snooker will make an announcement around 2pm today regarding the hearing.

giant_midget

Tin_Cup wrote: »

World Snooker will make an announcement around 2pm today regarding the hearing.

wow...you sure about that? was just thinking about this.

DubGF

I hope this is the case !!!

http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/09/08/breaking-news-john-higgins-back-to-snooker-soon-after-clearance-on-match-fix-charges-080901/

zack01

£75K fine and free to resume playing

Ghost Train

Decent fine, but the ban is pretty short, will be interesting to see how he does when he comes back

DubGF

Delighted with the outcome.

mike65

6 months ban 75k fine, Higgins’ business partner banned forever and yet he's still the hero.

giant_midget

mike65 wrote: »

6 months ban 75k fine, Higgins’ business partner banned forever and yet he's still the hero.

because his manager was the one who set up the meeting, They were right to hang him out to dry..

mike65

I haven't seen the details yet but if Higgins was dumb enough to go along with this he should be banned for more than 6 months.

giant_midget

mike65 wrote: »

I haven't seen the details yet but if Higgins was dumb enough to go along with this he should be banned for more than 6 months.

I think it had to be proved beyond all reasonable doubt that Higgins intended to fix the outcome of the frames. He would have launched an appeal if it went against him.

I for one am looking forward to seeing him play again in Oct, I hope he was putting in the hours on the practice table over the summer.

thewander

Good summary here:

http://snookerscene.blogspot.com/2010/09/john-higgins-tribunal-findings.html

giant_midget

thewander wrote: »

Good summary here:

http://snookerscene.blogspot.com/2010/09/john-higgins-tribunal-findings.html

Excellent write up there, That covers everything..

very fair as well giving him 90 days rather than 30 to pay the fine.

FlawedGenius

Got away with it big time IMO.

katnia

This is not justice, he should be banned for far longer. To think that they just dropped the charges of match fixing & bribery makes me mad, it was plain for all to see he was certainly going along with the idea at the meeting in Kiev. Barry Hearn had his chance to establish a new era for snooker and in my view he has just blown it, how can you follow a sport that does not adequately punish cheats...? I'm very disappointed by this 'justice'

mike65

I guess the NOTW can still say they broke a case of sporting corruption so they'll be happy enough.

Myrddin

So the match fixing charges were dropped, and he was found guilty of "'intentionally giving the impression to others that they were agreeing to act in breach of the Betting Rules'"...what a cop-out by the board.

I like Higgins, but it's funny how the argument about edited voiceovers etc came about months after the incident. Why did he not voice his concerns about this immediately after the video was released? What's wrong with saying "Hey folks, that's a great video & all, but that's NOT what I said!"???

That one point alone convinces me he's not 100% innocent here. His only defence was that he agreed to do it becasue he felt intimidated, that's what his press-release said, & that's what he said. Nothing about edited voices etc.

Sorry, but this just proves to me that the board feel that the game can't take a big hit like this...sad really.

col.in.Cr

thats a joke
I was a fan of his before but he will always be the
Weasel Of Wishaw now

Warper

Absolute joke of a verdict - people will hate him even more now than before the court case.

Myrddin

I wouldn't victimise him too heavily, & I'd hate to see him reviled over this. It's more the board I'm angry with, no player is bigger than the game. I can't help but think if it were Stuart Bingham instead of Higgins, would the enquiry have the same outcome? I pity the fans from now though, as every match Higgins loses from here on out will echo pub comments like "He probably earned more from losin' that match than winnin a bleedin' tournament wa?"

zack01

Guys, I've said this all along that Higgins was innocent, and now that has been proven, the six month ban is the actual time he will have served until he can enter the next event which is a players tour event in Germany in November, he missed this weeks Shanghai Masters and the next tournament The World Open in his native Scotland.
He was accused, he has stood trial and had been cleared.
Let the man resume his career.

Myrddin

zack01 wrote: »

Guys, I've said this all along that Higgins was innocent, and now that has been proven

The charges were dropped were they not? He only faced charges of betting discussions. I'd love to think he was innocent I really would, but the video is a killer to watch, it's hard to feel he's innocent while watching it.

KrazeeEyezKilla

I always liked Higgins but theres something not right about the whole case. Why wasn't he charged with match fixing or bringing the sport into disrepute. I wonder what Quintin Hann makes of it considering he got an eight year ban for a fairly similar offence.