Posts tagged News of the World

John Higgins marks return with superb tournament win

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449 days
by in Uncategorized

John Higgins made a sensational return to the snooker circuit by winning the Euro Players Tour Championship event five in Germany.

The three-time champion of the world was back in competitive action after serving a six-month ban after he was found guilty for failing to report a would-be corruptor to the sport after newspaper News of the World implicated him in a match-fixing scandal.

The last time Higgins played competitively, it was in the defeat to Steve Davis in the second round of the world championship back in April.

Higgins won seven matches impressively en route to becoming the 11th different winner of the 11 PTC events so far, defeating Shaun Murphy – the man he beat in 2009 to win his third world crown – 4-2 in the final.

The Wizard of Wishaw kicked off the final with a beautiful break of 132, and then doubled his lead with a 66. Murphy soon levelled the match with runs of 64 and 50.

Murphy was looking to be the first player to win two events in the series, but Higgins took control of the match by making a 95 and then made a 53 in the next frame.

“It was a good final. I only really missed one ball, when I should have gone 3-1 up,” said a buoyant Higgins. “I just came here hoping to get a few matches under my belt, so I’m delighted to win it.”

Whilst serving his ban, Higgins fell from world No.1 to No.4, but thanks to the win, he has climbed up to No.3.

Higgins admitted he was more nervous in returning to action after the ban than he was in his first world championship final, and even he didn’t think he would win the event after three days of action.

“I had to be realistic coming here as the other players had all been competing regularly for four or five months. I knew I was good enough to win it but I didn’t expect that much,” said the 35-year-old. “The first match was the hardest and that was the worst I played, Joe Jogia had chances to beat me. After that I settled down and felt a lot better.

“The draw was bound to be hard as the standard is so high now. Martin Gould was a very tough match as he’s the most improved player on the circuit, and then to beat two of the best in the world in Graeme Dott and Shaun in my last two matches was amazing really.

“Winning here gives me some confidence but there’s a long way to go, I would have felt that whatever happened here. It has no real bearing on the rest of the season,” said Higgins.

Higgins was worried by the reception he would receive from the crowd and his fellow players, but was pleased with the way it turned out. “I’m delighted, not just for me but for my family and friends. The reception from the snooker community was exceptionally warm and encouraging,” he said.

“I didn’t expect anything else. These are players I have known for years. They know John Higgins and I know them. I promised in September that I intended to pick up many more trophies, [this] is just the start,” Higgins added.

The fine start is the perfect tonic for Higgins.

Snooker launches anti-corruption unit

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505 days
by in Uncategorized

World Professional and Billiards Association chairman Barry Hearn has unveiled “zero tolerance” rules on betting.

In a press conference this lunchtime, Hearn said anyone in both snooker and darts – which he is chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation as well- who are involved in any form of betting will be given a lifetime ban.

The announcement comes on the back of snooker’s latest scandal, in which John Higgins was found not guilty of match-fixing after a sting by the News of the World had footage of Higgins and his then manager Pat Mooney of apparently agreeing to throw frames for money at a future event.

Higgins was found guilty of failing to report a would-be corruptor to the sport, and was fined £75,000 and banned until November, while Mooney was deemed solely responsible for the situation and permanently banned from snooker.

Higgins has agreed to take part in a new educational programme which will teach players about the consequences of betting and make them aware of the standards set by the WPBSA.

“Over the next couple of weeks we have a build-up to a board meeting on October 7th, which will approve a while range of new rules which will clearly set down the parameters that we want to see professional sport under and I believe it will take us to the very top of the queue in terms of integrity issues in sport,” Hearn said.

“We will be making sure that all the professional players involved in darts and snooker are aware that it is totally against the rules for anyone to have any financial gain whatsoever from any betting activity in these sports. In other words, no betting on anything. And that would involve not just betting on matches, but betting on parts of matches. This would involve savers, insurance bets on prize money, laying off bets on maximum breaks or high breaks. It’s a total blanket on any form of gambling. Anyone that breaks these rules is an instant lifetime ban from the sport,” he added.

David Douglas – a former Metropolitan police detective chief superintendent- now in charge of disciplinary matters on the WPBSA board, will be joined by Lord Stevens, chairman of Quest, as well.

Hearn went on to say: “Integrity in sport should be zero tolerance. We should always remember the most important people, not just the television companies that televise our sport or the sponsors who sponsor our sport, the most important people is the punter that buys the ticket or the viewer that watches professional sport at home on television.

“These people have got to enjoy their sport in the knowledge that the sport is cleaner than clean, that everyone is giving a hundred per cent all the time and that no-one is involved in any financial benefit whatsoever other than the prize money they are playing for. In terms of gambling, it needs to be completely and totally outlawed.

“We will be setting up, under Lord Stevens’ guidance, private confidential emails and phone numbers so that anyone who has anything to report has the obligation to report that. Failure to report, once again comes back to a lifetime ban.

“It’s time for all sport to take a very strong grip and a look at itself. We live in a different world, we live in a world of temptation, a world that requires education on the pitfalls that can be there by trusting other people, by being gullible and naive. We need to make sure we have systems in place to help these people, we don’t want a problem we want to guarantee that we will never have a problem.

“Setting up the Integrity Unit is a process we started several months ago – before the John Higgins case came about – by bringing Douglas on to the board. Snooker is a sport associated with honesty and sportsmanship, we’ve all seen countless occasions where players have owned up to fouls not spotted by the referee.

“Unfortunately in recent months we’ve had some high-profile cases which have tarnished the image of the game, and it’s vital for the future of snooker that we stamp out corruption and make sure we are clean, and perceived as clean by the viewing public. We have made massive strides forward commercially this year with new and successful events with exciting formats. But that progress must not be hindered by any form of corruption.”

Newspaper hands over tapes in John Higgins scandal

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552 days
by in Uncategorized

The Sunday newspaper the News of the World has handed over all of the video recordings used during the sting operation of snooker player John Higgins and his manager Pat Mooney.

On May 2nd, the scandal was revealed on the day of the world championship final at the Crucible. The footage shows Higgins and his manager in a Ukrainian hotel in Kiev talking about the best way to cover up the money he receives and how easy it would be to decide the outcome of a frame. It reveals Higgins with his manager Mooney agreeing on a price of £261,000, to throw frames in four separate matches in the World Series later this year.

The matter was thoroughly investigated by David Douglas, a former Metropolitan police chief superintendent, now in charge of disciplinary matters on the board of the World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association (WPBSA). The case has now been passed on to an independent dispute resolution service Sport Resolutions (UK), with an outcome set to be decided in early September. Higgins is currently suspended from all WPBSA tournaments, but a decision should be made before the first ranking tournament in Shanghai on September 6th.

Reports suggested the News of the World were reluctant to hand over all of the filming fearing that Higgins and Mooney could take legal action, but the publication had denied any such occurrence. Higgins and Mooney face charges of match-fixing, bringing the game into disrepute and accepting or pretending to accept a proposition related to gambling on frames.

Both Higgins and Mooney have denied any wrong-doing, and a spokesman for Higgins said: “Throughout this process we have avoided being drawn on speculation or conjecture. Given there is a quasi-judicial procedure ongoing, it would be wrong for us to comment. We are completely focused on clearing John’s name in relation to the accusations of match fixing.”

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