The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has banned 10 Chinese professional snooker players for a variety of breaches related to the manipulation of snooker matches, which has been supported by the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA).
The sanctions came to light after WPBSA received specific betting data from the IBIA and its members. Aaron Hill v Zhao Jianbo in Northern Ireland Open Qualifiers, Bai Langning v Zhou Xintong in British Open, Chang Binyu v Jamie Jones in British Open, Yuan Sinjun v Jimmy White in Northern Ireland Open Qualifiers and Lu Ning v Robert Milkins in European Masters Qualifiers were among the 2022 matches where IBIA discovered suspicious activity.
WPBSA Disciplinary Commission has issued two lifetime bans for Liang Wenbo and Li Hang and lengthy bans for the other players.
Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, said: “We would like to congratulate the WPBSA on successfully prosecuting this case. It highlights the vital role played by well-regulated betting markets in deterring corruption and sends a very clear message to all athletes about the risks of engaging in match-fixing.
“IBIA’s responsible regulated betting operators have a significant incentive to help crack down on match-fixing, which is aimed at defrauding those companies. Our market position enables us to provide a highly accurate analysis and effective deterrent against corruption in the regulated sports betting market.”
A nationwide athlete education campaign in Canada will be launched and supported by the IBIA and its member companies, bet365, Betway, and FanDuel.
They agreed to contribute at least CA$300,000 (US$220,000) over the course of three years to the programme, to address the potential threat of match-fixing and fraud related to sports betting to athletes, sports and the regulated market.
