It's not about suppressing Chinese players! The punishment of 10 people was reasonable and compliant, and collective match-fixing touched the bottom line, which brought shame to Chinese sports
Late on the night of June 6, World Snooker officially issued an announcement that the results of the investigation of 10 Chinese players suspected of manipulating the results of snooker matches were announced, and their final ban and the amount of fines were also announced. Liang Wenbo and Li Xing, the two main contestants, were punished by a lifetime ban and paid £43,000; The remaining 8 people, such as Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong, were punished with bans ranging from 1 year and 8 months to 5 years and 4 months, and all had to pay 7,500 pounds.
The official release was accompanied by a 58-page investigation report issued by the Independent Investigative Committee, which detailed the causes and consequences of the match-fixing investigation. Including a detailed description of the 10 people involved in the Chinese snooker case, the facts of their violations have been investigated clearly, even specific to every game and score operated. It is precisely because the evidence is conclusive, so most of them actively cooperate with the investigation and actively admit guilt, so the final punishment result is also according to each person's different circumstances, respectively.
In fact, when all snooker players step on the professional stage of world snooker, they need to sign a player agreement with the competent department of the World Federation of Taiwan Affairs (WPBSA), which stipulates the relevant regulations that need to be observed as professional players and the content of protecting their personal rights and obligations. An important aspect of this is the Player Code, which clearly mentions that as a professional player, you are not allowed to participate in the manipulation of the results of the game for the purpose of gambling, even if it is to participate in the result betting behavior of the game that is not the person himself, it is expressly prohibited. That is to say, regarding match-fixing and gambling, it is a red line in the player code, and whoever touches it will be severely punished!
Before the collective match-fixing case of Chinese professional snooker players, World Snooker also handled a number of suspected match-fixing and gambling cases. The harshest is England's famous player, known as "Fat Lee" Stephen Lee, who was ranked fifth in the world at the time, and was finally officially sentenced to a 12-year ban in 2013 for match-fixing in 7 games, basically ruining his career. Just last year, Thai snooker star Thanavat was officially banned for six years for manipulating the results of six matches.
The match-fixing scandal of Chinese players appeared as early as 2018, when the famous generals Delu and Cao Yupeng were investigated successively, in which Yu Delu participated in the manipulation of the results of 5 matches and received a huge return, because he did not cooperate with the investigation process, so he was eventually sentenced to a 10-year and 9-month ban, as well as a fine of more than 20,000 pounds. Cao Yupeng, on the other hand, manipulated 3 matches, and due to his active cooperation with the investigation, he only received a 2-year and 6-month ban. Now Cao Yupeng has changed his mind and returned to the professional arena to continue his dream of snooker.
It can be seen from these match-fixing cases in the past that the official behavior of manipulating the results of the game is severely punished, and depending on the cooperation of the players involved, there will be a certain degree of reduction in the ban period. Some people will mention that the world sports community paid attention to the Higgins gambling case, when Higgins was only rumored to be likely to play match-fixing, and was cooperating with a third-party organization, and the final investigation results showed that Higgins did not really manipulate the game and play match-fixing, but there was this possibility, and it was discovered before it was implemented, and finally the official imposed a ban on him for half a year and a fine of 75,000 pounds.
Looking back at the 10 parties involved in the collective match-fixing case of Chinese players, Liang Wenbo was the most egregious, and he dominated most of the match-fixing behavior. He personally manipulated the results of 5 matches, in addition to organizing and encouraging others to manipulate another 9 matches. In addition, he refused to cooperate with the official investigation, and even acted in confrontation, and did not participate in and provide relevant investigation materials at the final hearing, so all of Liang Wenbo's actions have reached the maximum level of sentencing. Li Xing is Liang Wenbo's accomplice, he personally manipulated the results of 5 games, encouraged others to participate in 7 games, and did not cooperate with the investigation, there was confrontational behavior, so in the end, both were sentenced to the most severe punishment of life ban, plus a fine of 43,000 pounds. The punishment of the two is more like an official attitude of setting an example.
Among the others, Lu Ning manipulated 4 matches, in addition to betting behavior, and fought against the official investigation, originally banned for 8 years, reduced to 5 years and 4 months due to subsequent cooperation and confessions. Yan Bingtao manipulated the results of 4 matches and other betting behaviors, and was originally banned for 7 years and 6 months, but was reduced to 5 years due to subsequent cooperation and guilty pleas. Zhao Xintong participated in the manipulation of the results of 2 non-personal matches, as well as betting behavior, and was originally banned for 2 years and 6 months, but reduced to 1 year and 8 months due to subsequent cooperation and confession.
Zhao Jianbo manipulated 1 of his personal matches and placed bets, and the original ban was 3 years and 6 months, but due to subsequent cooperation and confessions, it was reduced to 2 years and 4 months. Chang Bingyu manipulated one of his personal matches, and was originally banned for 3 years, but was reduced to 2 years due to subsequent cooperation and confessions. Browning manipulated one of his individual matches, and was originally banned for 4 years, but due to subsequent cooperation and guilty pleas, it was reduced to 2 years and 8 months. Chen Zifan manipulated three of his individual matches, and was originally banned for 7 years and 6 months, but was reduced to 5 years due to subsequent cooperation and guilty pleas. Zhang Health manipulated one of his personal matches, betrayed, and did not cooperate in providing information, and was originally banned for 4 years and 5 months, but due to subsequent cooperation and confession, it was reduced to 2 years and 11 months.
In the investigation report, the official detailed list of the facts of 10 violations, basically everyone had manipulated the results of the game, that is, they all violated the official red line, so they were all punished for more than one year. Considering that everyone's violation is not the same, there are also differences in sentencing, but on the whole, the punishment of the Chinese snooker collective match-fixing case is reasonable and compliant, there is no special treatment, and the players involved all agree with their own violations. If a player disputes the result of the penalty, he or she has until 14 days, i.e. by June 20.
Just after the world snooker officially announced the punishment results of 10 Chinese snooker violators, the Chinese Billiards Association also issued a statement that it will severely punish the offending players, which means that these 10 players may be additionally punished by the domestic billiards authorities in the future. It has to be said that this Chinese snooker collective match-fixing scandal is not only a scandal in the world sports world, but also humiliates Chinese sports.