The hearing into the alleged match-fixing ring involving ten Chinese snooker players begins today, Monday.
Expected to be several days and up to two weeks in length, it means there is still some time to wait before the findings are published.
It will only be then that the snooker world will learn what level of punishment will be handed out to each of the ten Chinese players.
As there are different circumstances surrounding each player’s involvement in the scandal, any subsequent bans are also expected to be quite varied in severity.
Ian Mill KC is chairing the hearing, an expert lawyer on sports disputes and someone with experience in this area having also determined the outcome of the case involving John Higgins back in 2010.
At that time, Higgins was suspended for six months after failing to report an approach made to him to fix matches.
Some of the Chinese snooker players may receive similar bans following this hearing, but lengthier penalties are expected to be dished out for the more severe examples of corruption.
Among those who have been charged with being involved are former Masters champion Yan Bingtao and former UK champion Zhao Xintong.
The latter is still ranked inside the world’s top 16 and should have been a seed at this year’s World Snooker Championship.
Zhao is believed to be the only player who has remained in the UK, continuing to practice out of the Victoria Snooker Academy in Sheffield.
It is understood that the remaining nine snooker players have returned to China and will attend the hearing via video link.
Long-time professionals Liang Wenbo, Li Hang, and Lu Ning are the players who appear to be in danger of receiving the worst levels of punishment.
All three were “charged with being concerned in fixing matches and approaching players to fix matches on the World Snooker Tour, seeking to obstruct the investigation and failing to cooperate with the WPBSA investigation.”
Meanwhile, Mark King was also suspended this year after irregular betting patterns were flagged during his match against Joe Perry at the 2023 Welsh Open.
The former Northern Ireland Open champion’s case is unrelated to this inquiry surrounding the group of Chinese competitors.
What the ten players from China are charged with:
Zhao Xintong, world number nine, has been charged with being concerned in fixing matches on the World Snooker Tour and betting on snooker.
Yan Bingtao, world number 16, has been charged with fixing matches on the World Snooker Tour and betting on snooker.
Lu Ning, world number 46, has been charged with fixing a match and being concerned in fixing matches and approaching a player to fix a match on the World Snooker Tour, seeking to obstruct the investigation and betting on snooker matches.
Liang Wenbo, world number 56, has been charged with being concerned in fixing matches and approaching players to fix matches on the World Snooker Tour, seeking to obstruct the investigation and failing to cooperate with the WPBSA investigation.
Li Hang, world number 64, has been charged with being concerned in fixing matches and approaching players to fix matches on the World Snooker Tour, seeking to obstruct the investigation and betting on snooker matches.
Chang Bingyu, world number 77, has been charged with fixing a match on the World Snooker Tour.
Zhang Jiankang, world number 82, has been charged with fixing a match on the World Snooker Tour, failing to report approaches for him to fix matches and betting on snooker matches.
Chen Zifan, world number 93, has been charged with fixing matches on the World Snooker Tour.
Bai Langning, world number 126, has been charged with being concerned in fixing a match on the World Snooker Tour.
Zhao Jianbo, amateur, has been charged with fixing a match on the World Snooker Tour.
Featured photo credit: WST
Must have missed Mark King’s suspension time. I knew he was under investigation, but have not seen report of actual suspension. How long is it for?
No time frame. He is suspended while under investigation and until a result is determined.
Players are suspended until a legal ‘hearing’ which finds them either not guilty or guilty when they will face some punishment including perhaps a ban.
Do you think making an example of these players and giving them lifetime bans would deter players ever thinking of fixing matches in the future?