A decision was made by the Disciplinary Commission in the case of ten Snooker Players on trial by WPBSA for match-fixing.
Following a warning from the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) in August 2022, the WPBSA Integrity Division conducted a thorough investigation which led WPBSA to accuse all ten players of serious violations of the WPBSA Code of Conduct. All ten players have been suspended until these violations are detected.
From Sports Decisions, Liang Wenbo, Li Hang, Lu Ning, Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Zhao Jianbo, Chang Bingyu, Bai Langning, Chen Zifan and Zhang Jiankang.
After a four-day hearing, the Disciplinary Commission determined:
- Liang Wenbo was found to violate the Code of Conduct as follows:
- Fixing or fixing five billiard games between July 24 and September 28, 2022
- Encourages, encourages, entices, persuades, encourages or facilitates players to fix nine games between July 24 and December 13, 2022
- That you bet against the rules on pool matches between September 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022.
- Engaged in corrupt behavior by threatening another player and getting him to delete his messages on his phone.
- That he threatened to try to persuade another player not to aid the WPBSA investigation.
- On or after September 1, 2022, when WPBSA became aware of the investigation, she covered up or tried to cover up her involvement in match-fixing by deleting messages on her cell phone and demanding that other players delete messages on their phones.
- Not cooperating with the WPBSA investigation by not participating in the interviews and not providing the material requested by the WPBSA investigation.
- Li Hang was found to have violated the Code of Conduct as follows:
- Fixing or fixing five billiard games between July 24 and September 29, 2022
- Encourages, encourages, entices, persuades, encourages or facilitates players to fix seven snooker matches between July 24 and December 13, 2022.
- That you bet against the rules on pool matches between September 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022.
- On or after September 1, 2022, when WPBSA became aware of the investigation, she covered up or tried to cover up her involvement in match-fixing by deleting messages on her cell phone and demanding that other players delete messages on their phones.
- It turned out that Lu Ning was not involved in encouraging others to fix matches. It agreed to the following:
- Fixing three billiards games in the 2014-15 season.
- He fixed a billiard match on July 23, 2022.
- That you bet against the rules on pool matches between September 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022.
- On or after September 1, 2022, when he became aware of the WPBSA investigation, he was covering up or trying to cover up his involvement in match-fixing by deleting messages on his cell phone.
- Yan Bingtao acknowledged the following:
- Fixing a match on August 29, 2016
- Fixing three billiards matches between March 3, 2022 and September 29, 2022.
- That you bet against the rules on pool matches between September 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022.
- Zhao Xintong acknowledged the following:
- On March 3 and March 11, 2022, another player is a party to fixing two billiards matches.
- That you bet against the rules on pool matches between September 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022. He will pay £7,500 in cost.
- Zhao Jianbo acknowledged the following:
- He fixed a billiard match on August 26, 2022.
- That you bet on the pool game he fixed.
- Chang Bingyu admitted to fixing a pool game on September 28, 2022.
- Bai Langning admitted to fixing a pool game on September 26, 2022.
- Chen Zifan acknowledged the following:
- fixes or fabricates the result or score of three pool games played between 24 July and 23 August 2022 or is party to an effort to correct or edit
- Zhang Jiankang acknowledged the following:
- He fixed a match he played on July 22, 2022.
- That you bet against the rules on pool matches between September 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022.
- unable to provide information requested by WPBSA
The Disciplinary Commission imposed the following sanctions on each player:
- Liang Wenbo has been given the right to play pool for life and will pay £43,000 for it.
- Li Hang has been given a lifetime of billiards and will pay £43,000 in expenses.
- Lu Ning was given an 8-year suspension, reduced to 5 years and 4 months until April 6, 2028, after his early admission and pleading guilty. He will pay £7,500 in cost.
- Yan Bingtao was given 7 years and 6 months suspension, reduced to 5 years until December 11, 2027, after his early admission and pleading guilty. He will pay £7,500 in cost.
- Zhao Xintong was suspended from 2 years and 6 months, reduced to 1 year and 8 months until September 1, 2024, after his early admission and pleading guilty. He will pay £7,500 for costs.
- Zhao Jianbo was given a suspended sentence of 3 years and 6 months, reduced to 2 years and 4 months until April 7, 2025, after his early admission and pleading guilty. He will pay £7,500 for costs.
- Chang Bingyu was given a 3-year suspension, reduced to 2 years until December 7, 2024, after his early admission and pleading guilty. He will pay £7,500 as a cost.
- Bai Langning was given a 4-year suspension, reduced to 2 years and 8 months until August 6, 2025, after his early admission and pleading guilty. He will pay £7,500 in cost.
- Chen Zifan was given 7 years and 6 months suspension, reduced to 5 years until December 20, 2027, after his early admission and pleading guilty. He will pay £7,500 as a cost.
- Zhang Jiankang suspended from 4 years and 5 months, dropped after being admitted early and defended
copy full decision It can be accessed from the relevant documents tab on the right.