List of snooker players investigated for match-fixing

Snooker has been plagued by allegations of corruption virtually since its inception as a professional sport. BBC commentator and retired professional player, Willie Thorne, concedes that match-fixing has always been a part of snooker, even acknowledging that some of the results in his own matches were bent. The earliest known case of corruption in the game involves Joe Davis, pioneer of the professional game and winner of the first fifteen world championships, who is believed to have "carried" weaker opponents in multi-session matches to maximise the gate revenue.

Players do not always enter into match-fixing arrangements of their own volition and sometimes are coerced into fixing results by threats of violence. Thai players inparticular have been targeted by ruthless cartels; James Wattana once received a death threat encouraging him to lose a match, resulting in his father being shot dead. Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon and Passakorn Suwannawat—also both Thai players and flatmates—were the victims of a firebomb attack on their home in Sheffield after the governing body opened an investigation into them.

Match-fixing is notoriously difficult to prove: there have only been four arrests in the game's history—Silvino Francisco, Stephen Lee and Scottish practice partners Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett—but no criminal prosecutions. The only players ever to be successfully prosecuted by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association for it are Stephen Lee and amateur, John Sutton; however, three other players including Quinten Hann, John Higgins and Joe Jogia have all served bans on match-fixing related charges.

Players investigated for match-fixing

Name	Event	Date	Opponent	Score	Outcome	Ref
	Match
Silvino Francisco	Masters Last 16	29 January 1986	Tony Knowles	1–5	Arrested, but later released without charge.
	Masters Last 16	23 January 1989	Terry Griffiths	1–5
Peter Francisco	World Championship Round 1	15–16 April 1995	Jimmy White	2–10	Found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, and was banned for five years. Cleared of match-fixing.
Quinten Hann	China Open Round 1	31 March 2005	Ken Doherty	2–5	Hann was found in breach of rule 2.8, which states "a member shall not directly or indirectly solicit, attempt to solicit or accept any payment or any form of remuneration of benefit in exchange for influencing the outcome of any game of snooker or billiards." He was banned for eight years in 2006 and fined £10,000.
Stephen Lee	Malta Cup League stage	8 February 2008	Joe Swail	5–1	WPBSA concluded that the match was not fixed.
		4 February 2008	Neil Robertson	1–5	Lee was found guilty of breaching Rule 2.9 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations by accepting payment to influence the outcome of a match. The case was heard by Sports Resolutions UK from 9–11 September 2013. Lee received a twelve-year ban, which is back-dated to the beginning of his suspension on 12 October 2012 and will run until 12 October 2024. Lee also notched up £125,000 in costs awarded against him after an unsuccessful appeal.
		5 February 2008	Ken Doherty	2–4
		7 February 2008	Marco Fu	1–5
	UK Championship	13–14 December 2008 Round 1	Stephen Hendry	9–7
		15–16 December 2008 Round 2	Mark King	9–5
	China Open Round 1	1 April 2009	Mark Selby	1–5
	World Championship Round 1	22 April 2009	Ryan Day	4–10
Peter Ebdon	Northern Ireland Trophy 2nd round	26 August 2008	Liang Wenbo	0–5	Investigated by the Gambling Commission over suspicious betting patterns.
Jamie Burnett	UK Championship Round 1	15 December 2008	Stephen Maguire	3–9	Arrested, but later released without charge.
Stephen Maguire	UK Championship Round 1	15 December 2008	Jamie Burnett	9–3	Arrested, but later released without charge.
Stephen Lee	UK Championship	5–8 December 2009	Unknown		Arrested and charged. Charges later dropped.
John Higgins	World Series of Snooker	2010	Matches did not go ahead		Found guilty of 'giving the impression' he would breach betting rules, and of failing to report the approach. Higgins was banned for six months, fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.
Jimmy Michie	Shoot-Out Round 1	28 January 2011	Marcus Campbell	21–32 (points)	Investigated by the WPBSA over suspicious betting patterns, but no charges were brought.
Marcus Campbell	Shoot-Out Round 1	28 January 2011	Jimmy Michie	32–21 (points)	Investigated by the WPBSA over suspicious betting patterns, but no charges were brought.
Joe Jogia	Shoot-Out Round 1	28 January 2012	Matthew Selt	Jogia withdrew	Jogia was found guilty of breaching Rule 2.1.4.1, which states "It shall be a breach of these rules for a member to engage in any other conduct that is corrupt or fraudulent, or creates an actual or apparent conflict of interest for the member, or otherwise risks impairing public confidence in the integrity and/or the honest and orderly conduct of the Tour and/or any Tournament or Match." Jogia was banned for two years (spanning the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons) and ordered to pay £2,000 in costs.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh	PTC – Event 3 Round 1	8 September 2012	Steve Davis	0–4	Investigated by the WPBSA over unusual betting patterns, but no charges were brought.
Stephen Lee	Premier League League stage	11 October 2012	John Higgins	2–4	Lee was suspended and investigated by the WPBSA and the Gambling Commission over suspicious betting patterns, but no charges were brought.
Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon	Shanghai Masters Qualifying round 1	7 August 2013	Ross Muir	0–5	Investigated by the WPBSA and the Gambling Commission over unusual betting patterns but no charges were brought.
Passakorn Suwannawat	Shanghai Masters Qualifying round 1	7 August 2013	Mohamed Khairy	4–5	Investigated by the WPBSA and the Gambling Commission over unusual betting patterns but no charges were brought.
John Sutton	International Championship Qualifying round	24 September 2014	Jamie Burnett	0–6	Sutton was found guilty by the WPBSA Disciplinary Committee of violating sections 2.1.2.1 and 2.1.3.1 of its Members Rules, in relation to match-fixing and misuse of inside information for betting purposes. Sutton received a six-year ban, which is back-dated to the beginning of his suspension on 9 February 2015 and ordered to pay £5,000 in costs.
Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon	Paul Hunter Classic Round 1	28 August 2015	Martin O'Donnell	2–4	Currently under investigation by the WPBSA and the Gambling Commission due to unusual betting patterns.
Leo Fernandez	World Championship Qualifying round 1	6 April 2016	Gary Wilson	4–10	Suspended and currently under investigation by the WPBSA due to suspicious betting patterns.