Joe Jogia has been suspended from competing on the Main Tour until further notice following unusual betting patterns found prior to his match with Matthew Selt at the Sky Shootout last January.
This scandal arose and somewhat went away again in the final months of the season but, following an internal investigation by the WPBSA Disciplinary Committee, the evidence has been found to be substantial enough to warrant a temporary suspension.
A hearing will take place in Bristol on July 25th, ensuring that Jogia will miss a substantial start to the opening section of the 2012/13 campaign.
The Englishman will definitely miss the Wuxi Classic and Australian Open, as well two PTC events, and could also be absent for the Shanghai Masters as the qualifying section for the China tournament commences the day before his hearing begins.
This is a serious matter and is the latest in quite a long list of betting irregularity scandals that have hit snooker in the past.
Many names have been implicated, some of which have turned into more long-term suspensions – and indeed many that have turned out to have been false rumours.
However, the fact that World Snooker has taken the decision to expel Jogia before his hearing is a strong indication that they have a major case against the world no. 47.
At the time of the incident in Blackpool, when a large number of bets were allegedly placed on Jogia to lose, the 36 year-old strongly protested his innocence. In the end, he withdrew from the event with a knee injury.
So last season ended with in a barrage of controversy and high-profile news headlines and it seems the new campaign is following suit.
