Snooker match-fixing: Chinese officials vow betting crackdown after 10 guilty players handed heavy bans
- Liang Wenbo and Li Hang banned for life as all of the Chinese players charged are found guilty
- Former Masters champion Yan Bingtao barred for five years and UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong for 20 months
Chinese snooker bosses have vowed to crack down on betting after 10 of the country’s professionals, including two who had been tipped as future world champions, were banned in the worst match-fixing scandal in the sport’s history.
The heaviest punishments were handed out to Liang Wenbo and Li Hang, who have been barred from the game for life for fixing matches as well as soliciting, inducing and persuading others to do so.
The pair, aged 36 and 32, were described by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) as ringleaders who put pressure on younger players to break the rules. They were also found guilty of orchestrating an attempted cover-up.
Among the eight others to be banned for between 20 months and five years were Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong, who had both been seen as having the potential to become China’s first world champion.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) said it took “a zero-tolerance attitude” to gambling and match-fixing, and would “hold cautionary education across the whole industry and launch a series of measures to carry out anti-betting and anti-counterfeiting”.
A number of Chinese players have relocated to Britain to compete in tournaments there, and the CBSA said it would “increase management of professional players in the UK, strengthen cooperation with international organisations and jointly prevent similar incidents from happening again”.
The verdict dealt a blow to Chinese snooker, which has been producing a growing number of highly rated players, and follows recent corruption scandals involving the country’s domestic football and basketball competitions.
But Mark Thomas, managing director of S2M Consulting, a sports events company that specialises in China, said rather than viewing it as an uptick in corruption, it should be seen as an improvement in the policing of sport.
“I would maybe put it down to a real effort of [Chinese] authorities to try to crack down on this and send the message to their sports that they’re trying their best to get clean,” he said.
“So, I’d put that as the cause for why we’ve got this flurry at the moment, rather than there’s been a sudden increase in graft or match-fixing. I think it’s possibly always been there.”
Snooker match-fixing bullying revealed, but Zhao ‘tried to stop Yan going ahead’
Still, the education Chinese officials have promised will come too late for the likes of Yan and Zhao, who had already claimed two of snooker’s Triple Crown prizes between them, the 2021 Masters and UK Championship respectively.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, arguably the best player the world has seen, had tipped Zhao to take that mantle from him.
“He could be the greatest of all time with his talent, his ability – I always say he’s Roger Federer with a snooker cue in his hands,” O’Sullivan told Metro in April last year.
By then, the offences that caused Zhao’s fall from grace had been committed. The previous month, Zhao had been a party to another player – Yan – fixing two matches, he admitted at the hearing. Yan, 23, has been banned for five years, while 26-year-old Zhao, the only player not found to have directly fixed matches, was suspended for 20 months.
“I have been thoroughly regretting my ignorance and silliness since being suspended a few months ago,” Zhao said in an apology posted on social media. “I feel ashamed as I disappointed everybody by making a mistake. I just want to say sorry to everyone.
“I didn’t make any profit from it, but I paid a heavy price for my foolishness.”
Lu Ning, Chen Zifan, Zhang Jiankang, Bai Langning, Zhao Jianbo and Chang Bingyu were the other players banned.
It came after an alert last August about suspicious betting activity, from the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA). The WPBSA investigated before charging players with breaches of its regulations. Their hearing took place in London on April 24 to 26 and May 3.
Liang and Li were found to have deleted mobile phone messages after the inquiry began and urged other players to do likewise, with the former threatening at least two players.
The 10 players, who have until June 20 to appeal, joined a lengthening list of Chinese sporting figures accused or found guilty of corruption.
“It has been heartbreaking to see some young, talented players fall foul of the WPBSA conduct regulations through pressure exerted by two senior players [Liang and Li],” Jason Ferguson, the WPBSA chairman, said.
“Those who try to corrupt sport are constantly trying to find new ways to avoid our monitoring processes and this outcome must be taken as a lesson to those who think they can avoid detection. If any player is involved in fixing a snooker match, they will be caught and will face severe penalties.”
