Snooker Match Fixing Investigation - Yan Bingtao biggest name to be suspended

farmingquestion

Statement here!

WPBSA Statement | 12 December 2022 - WPBSA

farmingquestion

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson has taken the decision to suspend Yan Bingtao from attending or competing on the World Snooker Tour with immediate effect.

This decision is part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of manipulating the outcome of matches for betting purposes in breach of the WPBSA Conduct Regulations.

The suspension will remain in place until the conclusion of the investigation or any subsequent charges that may or may not be brought. Yan Bingtao has the right to appeal this decision.

No further comment will be made except in the event of any significant further developments.

waynescales1

Wow, didn't know about any of this. Lu Ning, Li Hang, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning, Chang Bingyu the other players banned. Wenbo was banned back in October. Looks very bad for Chinese snooker.

Arthur Daley

The Yan ban is news today.

Dave Hendon was saying before news of the Yan ban that the others will be out for the season now, and this will take some time to be investigated.

Liang Wenbo looks done for as a name in sport at this stage, what with his previous.

Not being able to get back into China for a tournament is a big concern now, and they'll have to start to move on and plan without China for the next 12-18 months, bringing in other venues to get the tour outside the UK like perhaps Scandinavia, Belgium, building in Turkey or an invitational event for Goffs maybe.

Strumms

Very damaging.

you’ll be watching a game with a Chinese player and now be wondering if they miss a regulation pot, is it a genuine error or just a ways to make a few bent quid.

could the WPBSA refuse to accept Chinese players who wish to play in its tournaments ?

ok I know the usual suspects would bleat ‘racism’ and ‘discrimination’ at such suggestions but when cheating and corruption is so intrinsically endemic both now and historically amongst its players…something has to be done for the credibility of the sport….

waynescales1

I actually find how widespread this is staggering. China finally starting to get a strong foothold at the top level of snooker and they go and blow it on something like this. Love to know how its all orchestrated, are these players approached one by one or do they just have one big meeting? Haha. I'm guessing Ding was approached at some stage during his career and turned them down, respect to Ding.

Genghis

Total shocker. Looks like it was practically part of the game for the Chinese cohort in UK.

Set back for sure for the sports development.

Disappointed to see Yan caught up in it, Wenbo is a bad egg / no surprise if he orchestrated it, the rest probably immature, with bigger short term gains available than career winnings.

You'd feel for Ding, all he has done for the development of these players.

The Nal

Zhao Xintong suspended now

Arthur Daley

Zhao Xintong nabbed now. Suspended ahead of the Masters next week.

Not good, at all.

Makes the 9-0 in Germany last year look a dud.

The Nal

An absolute disaster for Chinese snooker. Wipeout.

waynescales1

There's three players 25 or under in the top 32, all are Chinese and 2 of the three have been suspended. With all the young talent from China getting booted out and no young UK/Irish talent coming through you'd have to wonder what's gonna happen to the sport in the medium to long term.

RebelButtMunch

Crap.. any idea what will happen to the match v selby ?

Arthur Daley

Probably Vafaei steps in but not confirmed yet. Think Zhao can appeal and I don't know if that might give Selby a w/o

Genghis

It's going to be a huge scandal when the full details are revealed. 10/24 Chinese pros impacted, this sets back Chinese snooker a generation, will definitely damage the sports credibility.

Wonder if WPBSA could be in trouble too for not picking it up sooner.

Arthur Daley

It's confirmed now that Vafaei will play Selby on Sunday night in the Masters

Tomaldo

Does anyone know why John Higgins got off so lightly (6 month ban) back in 2010 when that video emerged? His manager got a lifetime ban and Stephen Lee got a 12 year ban for something similar.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120066339#Comment_120066339

Threading over old ground there, but really there's a few crucial differences. Higgins never actually did any fixing, though arguably only because the newspaper in question was in such a rush to get the story published that they didn't give it a chance to play out into the realms of actually fixing a game/taking money. Stephen Lee actually repeatedly threw frames in a real event, Higgins discussed doing it in a non-existent/fictitious event and failed to report it. Not really 'similar' at all, (but it could have been with a cleverer newspaper)

Oscar Madison

I wonder when or if they'll ever look at Ronnie O'Sullivan!

Is he too big a name in the sport to investigate?

waynescales1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120066339#Comment_120066339

Because he was world number 1 and reigning world champion at the time. Imagine the reputational damage to snooker had he been banned. He was exonerated because the sport needed it. Higgins' laughable "excuse" that he was lured to this frame-fixing meeting under false pretences by his business partner and feared for his safety, was accepted by the WPBSA for this reason.

Tomaldo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120066912#Comment_120066912

Yes, that excuse was up there with "the money was just resting in my account"

gormdubhgorm

I don't know what to make of it all. Snooker could end up being a joke sport like cycling, at the end of all this craic.

But logically snooker must be one of the few sports that is ripe for betting cheating. So many options to cheat on a miss by a fraction here or there, etc. Throw the odd frame.

And Stephen Lee the king of the snooker cheaters could come back in 2024.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odle_voRRpU

And sure if it does not work out, he could always try acting.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120066489#Comment_120066489

Ronnie openingly admitted in an interview/book that he was approached by certain individuals to fix matches in the past early in his career. But Ronnie's reply was 'Nah mate I couldn't do that' 'It is not in me'.

farmingquestion

I'd be edging towards sinister involvement with these.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120090754#Comment_120090754

I would not be surprised if involves those Chinese Mafia/Triads threatening families etc.

But I hope it is sorted out quickly anyway, and ends up being a mountain made out of molehill.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120090839#Comment_120090839

I actually said the same thing to the Mrs there the other day. Great shame to see such young and really skilled players throwing their reputations in the bin, not that it’s excusable one way or the other, but if the Chinese mob or government had some forced involvement shall we say, you could at least get it. Just seems like a waste of good talent otherwise.

But then maybe being young and very suddenly propelled to the top ranks of snooker players just went to their heads & they felt they were untouchable. Who knows.

ArmaniJeanss

Does anyone know the financing behind the Chinese players? My theory would be that they are well subsidised by the Chinese government in their development phase, which is why these teenagers/20 somethings are able to re-locate halfway around the world. We've all heard of Irish players who struggled to raise the funds to make a go of it in the UK, yet Chinese youngsters seem to be able to do it without any issue.

But the problem might be that the money is expected to be returned when they are successful, possibly on an ongoing basis (not just a case of clearing the original grant). I guess it depends on what sort of contract they signed with their backers.

So when they finally start earning (and as we know snooker is no goldmine for those ranked 17-70) they have to pay the UK taxman, normal living expenses plus a chunk to their original backers. You could see how it leaves them open to doing something shady on the side to make up for the money they might feel is being wrongfully docked. It may even be their only direct income.

So whilst matchfixing/spotfixing is obviously incredibly serious, I think the bigger issue is whether these players are actually independent entities in the way every sportsperson should be. But that may not be an investigation that the WSA has the capability of approaching.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120094698#Comment_120094698

The impression given with the likes of Ding for example was that his family had to put all their money into him to give him the chance at snooker. So I assume it was/is the same for the other Chinese lads.

I think comparing an Irish young snooker player struggling financially to a Chinese young player struggling financially are completely different. Different level of financial poverty completely I would assume. Then you add in lack of English language and having to depend on the Chinese expat community you could see how it could get very murky.

Genghis

Any professional sport involves scraping by until you achieve success. Everything from any Olympic sport through to professional rugby and soccer has professionals on pittance or working around casual work while they try to build a career. Even in individual sports with huge prizes on offer - Tennis, Golf, Boxing, MMA, there are hundreds of 'professionals' who earn nothing from their sport. Most of them never breakthrough, but they trade-off the no/low wages for the chance of glory and wealth (until the trade-off is no longer worth it, or they lose a sponsor, etc).

Carded snooker players being guaranteed £20k minimum for 2 years by the sport is in fact quite good, certainly for a minority sport. I think Ireland's Olympic hopefuls qualify for grants and I think the maximum amount is around €12k p.a., by comparison. Many candidates won't even qualify for the grant before they qualify for the Olympics; many are also in sports where money prizes are not significant (think rowing). I would also suspect many lower league / LOI type footballers never earn anything close to that per season - and that's in the most professional, well funded sport globally.

I know the £20k is a very new thing in snooker, but before the Chinese boys headed to the UK they would have known the expected income, the risk and reward, its part of the decision to pursue or not, same as entry into any professional sport.

I sincerely hope therefore that "financial circumstance" is not in any way allowed as an excuse here. As well as the reasons above, this scheme looks to have been systemic among a group of players (which makes it different to an individual acting alone) and some players like Bingtao, who has enjoyed much success, cannot really claim hardship.

I am only hoping there is some external, sinister element (like mafia involvement) to explain it. It will limit the damage on the sport, and will enable lighter punishment on the players (for not whistle-blowing as opposed to match fixing). If on the other hand all this was organised between the players (without any duress, and over a period of time), then I think 12 year suspensions - per precedent - is the minimum each player should expect.

I imagine we definitely won't hear any more until after the Masters, maybe not till after the Grad Prix (immediately following the Masters).

No definitely not an excuse. Suppose the reasons why (if they’re divulged/believable) would just offer an insight as to what they were thinking. And to be fair for some people a reasonably justified cause would be easier to understand than just plain greed.

For myself I’d feel differently towards them if it was indeed coercion from mafia types over they just wanted a handy few pound.

waynescales1

The "perpetrators are really victims" line of thought gaining lots of momentum I see. I would imagine the accused already have a story along those lines prepared and are attempting to portray themselves as such to the investigators. Multiple factors could potentially influence the outcome of this investigation, gonna be pretty interesting to see how it all plays out.

Arthur Daley

Not making enough money cannot be an excuse in the weeks ahead.

This is elite sport, there are hundreds, thousands of players around the World who would love to be on tour and take their chances.

If you're not making enough, you have lost too many matches. Many faced this reality in the past. Other lads had to work in petrol stations and bars to pay the bills and supplement the earnings.

Unless the sport moves up in image (the Masters is an attempt to do that in London) and into new markets overseas, from top 32 down will struggle to make a good living from the tour.