Snooker boss ‘heartbroken’ as 10 Chinese players face lifetime bans for match-fixing charges
- ‘We have to have a pure, competitive sport which people watch, buy tickets for, we sell our rights for around the world,’ Jason Ferguson says
- Governing body chairman thinks China will soon stage tournaments again but admits ‘there is some short-term damage … it’s not a great look for us’
Former Masters champion Yan Bingtao is among six Chinese players charged with match-fixing by snooker’s governing body, whose chairman Jason Ferguson described the situation as “heartbreaking”.
All 10 players currently suspended from the World Snooker Tour have been deemed to have cases to answer by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) following the sport’s biggest ever corruption investigation.
The other players charged with fixing a match or matches are Lu Ning, Zhang Jiankang, Chen Zifan, Chang Bingyu and Zhao Jianbo.
An independent disciplinary tribunal will now be convened to consider the evidence, with a verdict likely delivered before the World Championship in April.
“It is a heartbreaking situation for those of us who have been in this sport for a long time and have worked to make it the great sport it is,” WPBSA chairman Ferguson told ITV4.
“That is why we are doing this. We have to have a pure sport which people watch, buy tickets for, we sell our rights around the world; it has to be pure, live competitive sport.