List of snooker players investigated for match-fixing

Liang Wenbo (left) and Li Hang (right) received lifetime bans for match-fixing

Snooker has seen corruption allegations since its inception as a professional sport. Professional player and commentator Willie Thorne considered match-fixing endemic to snooker, noting that he himself was offered a bribe to throw a match. The earliest known case of corruption in the game involved Joe Davis, pioneer of the professional sport and winner of the first 15 world championships, who is believed to have "carried" weaker opponents in multi-session matches to maximise gate revenue. In 1968, The Sunday Times published an article titled "Great TV Snooker Frame-up", which exposed the fixing of non-tournament televised matches for "the artificial production of climaxes". Players Ray Edmonds, John Spencer, Gary Owen and Fred Davis recounted how there had been an understanding that if they were playing a televised match, end with a deciding frame, and that they would play in a way to ensure dramatic tension. Davis said that he regarded these matches as "five frames of comedy: I hate taking part in something that's not genuine".

Players have sometimes been coerced into fixing results. Thai players in particular have been targeted by cartels. James Wattana once received a death threat as part of a match-fixing attempt, while Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon was the victim of a firebomb attack on his Rotherham home after the governing body opened an investigation into him and fellow Thai player Passakorn Suwannawat.

Match-fixing is difficult to prove. Only four arrests have taken place in the sport's history—Silvino Francisco, Stephen Lee and Scottish practice partners Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett—but no criminal prosecution has ever been brought. In 2022, the sport was rocked by the biggest scandal in its history when a match-fixing ring was unmasked, which led to ten Chinese players—Liang Wenbo, Li Hang, Lu Ning, Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Zhao Jianbo, Chang Bingyu, Bai Langning, Chen Zifan and Zhang Jiankang—being banned for match-fixing offences. Ringleaders Liang and Li both received lifetime bans—the first ever handed out—from the sport. The only other players the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) have successfully prosecuted for match-fixing are Stephen Lee, Leo Fernandez, Yu Delu, Cao Yupeng, David John, Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon and amateur player John Sutton. Four other players—Quinten Hann, John Higgins, Joe Jogia, and Jamie Jones—have served bans on match-fixing related charges.

Players investigated for match-fixing

Name	Match				Outcome	Ref
	Event	Date	Opponent	Score
Silvino Francisco	Masters Last 16	29 January 1986	Tony Knowles	1–5	Arrested, but later released without charge.
	Masters Last 16	23 January 1989	Terry Griffiths	1–5
Peter Francisco	World Championship Last 32	15–16 April 1995	Jimmy White	2–10	Found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, and was banned for five years. Cleared of match-fixing.
Quinten Hann	China Open Last 32	31 March 2005	Ken Doherty	2–5	Hann was found in breach of rule 2.8, which states "a member shall not directly or indirectly solicit, attempt to solicit or accept any payment or any form of remuneration of benefit in exchange for influencing the outcome of any game of snooker or billiards." He was banned for eight years in 2006 and fined £10,000.
Stephen Lee	Malta Cup League stage	8 February 2008	Joe Swail	5–1	WPBSA concluded that the match was not fixed.
		4 February 2008	Neil Robertson	1–5	Lee was found guilty of breaching Rule 2.9 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations by accepting payment to influence the outcome of a match. The case was heard by Sports Resolutions UK from 9–11 September 2013. Lee received a twelve-year ban, which is back-dated to the beginning of his suspension on 12 October 2012 and will run until 12 October 2024. Lee also incurred £125,000 in costs awarded against him after an unsuccessful appeal.
		5 February 2008	Ken Doherty	2–4
		7 February 2008	Marco Fu	1–5
	UK Championship	13–14 December 2008 Round 1	Stephen Hendry	9–7
		15–16 December 2008 Round 2	Mark King	9–5
	China Open Last 32	1 April 2009	Mark Selby	1–5
	World Championship Last 32	22 April 2009	Ryan Day	4–10
Peter Ebdon	Northern Ireland Trophy Last 32	26 August 2008	Liang Wenbo	0–5	Investigated by the Gambling Commission over suspicious betting patterns.
Jamie Burnett	UK Championship Last 32	15 December 2008	Stephen Maguire	3–9	Arrested, but later released without charge.
Stephen Maguire	UK Championship Last 32	15 December 2008	Jamie Burnett	9–3	Arrested, but later released without charge.
Stephen Lee	UK Championship	5–8 December 2009	Unknown		Arrested and charged. Charges later dropped.
John Higgins	World Series of Snooker	2010	Matches did not go ahead		Found guilty of 'giving the impression' he would breach betting rules, and of failing to report the approach. Higgins was banned for six months, fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.
Jimmy Michie	Shoot-Out Round 1	28 January 2011	Marcus Campbell	21–32 (points)	Investigated by the WPBSA over suspicious betting patterns, but no charges were brought.
Marcus Campbell	Shoot-Out Round 1	28 January 2011	Jimmy Michie	32–21 (points)	Investigated by the WPBSA over suspicious betting patterns, but no charges were brought.
Joe Jogia	Shoot-Out Round 1	28 January 2012	Matthew Selt	Jogia withdrew	Following an investigation into suspicious betting patterns Jogia was found guilty of breaching Rule 2.1.4.1, which states "It shall be a breach of these rules for a member to engage in any other conduct that is corrupt or fraudulent, or creates an actual or apparent conflict of interest for the member, or otherwise risks impairing public confidence in the integrity and/or the honest and orderly conduct of the Tour and/or any Tournament or Match." Jogia was banned for two years (spanning the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons) and ordered to pay £2,000 in costs.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh	PTC – Event 3 Last 128	8 September 2012	Steve Davis	0–4	Investigated by the WPBSA over unusual betting patterns, but no charges were brought.
Stephen Lee	Premier League League stage	11 October 2012	John Higgins	2–4	Lee was suspended and investigated by the WPBSA and the Gambling Commission over suspicious betting patterns, but no charges were brought.
Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon	Australian Open Qualifying round 2	1 June 2013	Noppon Saengkham	1–5	The tie between Thanawat and Ross Muir at the Shanghai Masters in 2013 was investigated by the WPBSA and the Gambling Commission over unusual betting patterns, but in January 2014 the WPBSA closed the investigation after they found no evidence to link either player to the suspicious betting activity. The investigation into Thanawat was reopened in August 2015, following suspicious betting patterns regarding his match against Martin O'Donnell at the Paul Hunter Classic. Following a third investigation in 2022, Thanawat pleaded guilty to breaching Rule 2.1.2.1 by fixing the outcomes of six matches between 2013 and 2015. Thanawat was banned for nine years, reduced to six for his "guilty" plea. Of that period, he will serve two years nine months of his ban unconditionally, with the remaining three years and three months suspended, provided he assists the WPBSA in its anti-corruption work. His ban will run from 15th June 2022 until 14th March 2025, provided he complies with the terms of his sentence. He was ordered to pay £1,925 towards the WPBSA costs.
	Shanghai Masters Qualifying round 1	7 August 2013	Ross Muir	0–5
	China Open Qualifying round 1	16 February 2014	Ding Junhui	0–5
	Welsh Open Last 128	19 February 2014	Martin Gould	0–4
	UK Championship Last 128	25 November 2014	Stuart Bingham	0–6
	Paul Hunter Classic Last 128	28 August 2015	Martin O'Donnell	2–4
Passakorn Suwannawat	Shanghai Masters Qualifying round 1	7 August 2013	Mohamed Khairy	4–5	Investigated by the WPBSA and the Gambling Commission over unusual betting patterns but no charges were brought.
John Sutton	International Championship Qualifying round	24 September 2014	Jamie Burnett	0–6	Sutton was found guilty by the WPBSA Disciplinary Committee of violating sections 2.1.2.1 and 2.1.3.1 of its Members Rules, in relation to match-fixing and misuse of inside information for betting purposes. Sutton received a six-year ban, which is back-dated to the beginning of his suspension on 9 February 2015 and ordered to pay £5,000 in costs.
Lu Ning	European Tour – Event 5 Last 128	13 December 2014	Oliver Lines	2–4	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring Along with two other unknown matches in the 2014–15 snooker season, an independent tribunal found Lu guilty of fixing the results of four matches in total, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations. He was also found guilty of betting on matches. Lu was sentenced to a ban of five years and four months, reduced from eight years for his guilty plea, which will run until 6 April 2028. He was also ordered to pay £7,500 towards costs. His matches in the 2014–15 season are the earliest recorded matches to be fixed by a member of the Chinese match-fixing ring.
	European Masters Qualifying	23 July 2022	Robert Milkins	0–5
Yu Delu	Indian Open Qualifying round	12 February 2015	Martin McCrudden	4–3	Yu Delu was found guilty of breaching Rule 2.1.2.1 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations by accepting payment to fix the outcome of a match. Yu admitted breaches of WPBSA Members Rules before a three-person independent tribunal chaired by David Casement QC held on 2 November 2018, following an investigation by the WPBSA Integrity Unit working with Sportradar Integrity Services and the UK Gambling Commission. Yu was sentenced to a twelve-year ban reduced to ten years and nine months, which is back-dated to the beginning of his suspension on 25 May 2018 and will run until 24 February 2029. Yu was also ordered to pay £20,823.80 in costs.
	Paul Hunter Classic Last 128	29 August 2015	Dominic Dale	1–4
	Welsh Open Last 128	15 February 2016	Ian Glover	4–3
	European Masters Qualifying round	4 August 2017	Michael Georgiou	1–4
	Shanghai Masters Last 32	15 November 2017	Kurt Maflin	3–5
Cao Yupeng	Welsh Open Last 128	15 February 2016	Ali Carter	1–4	Cao Yupeng was found guilty of breaching Rule 2.1.2.1 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations by accepting payment to fix the outcome of a match. Cao admitted breaches of WPBSA Members Rules before a three-person independent tribunal chaired by David Casement QC held on 21 September 2018, following an investigation by the WPBSA Integrity Unit working with Sportradar Integrity Services and the UK Gambling Commission. Cao was sentenced to an eight-year ban reduced to six, which is back-dated to the beginning of his suspension on 25 May 2018 and ran until 24 November 2020. The remaining period of the ban was suspended provided Cao assists the WPBSA in its anti-corruption work. He was also ordered to pay £15,558 in costs. Cao returned to the main tour in the 2021–22 season.
	Indian Open Qualifying round	30 May 2016	Stuart Bingham	0–4
	UK Championship Last 128	24 November 2016	Stephen Maguire	1–6
Leo Fernandez	World Championship Qualifying round 1	6 April 2016	Gary Wilson	4–10	Fernandez was found guilty by the WPBSA Disciplinary Committee of violating section 2.1.2.1 of its Members Rules, which prohibits its members "to fix or contrive, or to be a party to any effort to fix or contrive, the result, score, progress, conduct or any other aspect of the Tour and/or any Tournament or Match", in relation to suspicious betting on who would commit the first foul in the first frame of the match. Fernandez admitted his involvement in delivering the foul shot in the first frame of the match in question for other persons to make money through betting. He was banned from the sport for 15 months, set to run from 27 May 2016—when the interim suspension pending the investigation too effect—until 27 August 2017 and ordered to pay £2,000 in costs. As a condition of his sentence Fernandez had to assist the WPBSA in its anti-corruption education work.
Yan Bingtao	Paul Hunter Classic Last 16	28 August 2016	Dominic Dale	1–4	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring An independent tribunal found Yan guilty of fixing the results of four matches in total, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations. He was also found guilty of betting on matches. Yan was sentenced to a ban of five years, reduced from seven and a half years for his guilty plea, which will run until 11 December 2027. He was also ordered to pay £7,500 towards costs.
	Welsh Open Last 32	3 March 2022	Ricky Walden	2–4
	Turkish Masters Last 16	11 March 2022	Oliver Lines	4–5
	British Open Last 32	29 September 2022	Jordan Brown	3–4
Zhao Xintong	—	—	—	—	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring An independent tribunal found Zhao guilty of fixing the results of two matches in total, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations. Zhao was a party to fixing the results of two matches in which Yan Bingtao played on 3 March and 11 March 2022 at the Welsh Open and Turkish Masters respectively (see above). He was also found guilty of betting on matches. Zhao was sentenced to a ban of one year and eight months, reduced from two and a half years for his guilty plea, which will run until 1 September 2024. He was also ordered to pay £7,500 towards costs.
David John	International Championship Qualifying round	29 September 2016	Graeme Dott	1–6	David John was found guilty of breaching Rule 2.1.2.1 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations by accepting payment to fix the outcome of a match. John admitted breaches of WPBSA Members Rules following an investigation by the WPBSA Integrity Unit supported by Sportradar and the UK Gambling Commission SBIU. The case against John was heard on 11 January 2019 by the WPBSA Disciplinary Committee. John was sentenced to a seven-year ban reduced to five years and seven months, which was back-dated to the beginning of his suspension on 22 May 2018 and ran until 21 December 2023. John was also ordered to pay £17,000 in costs.
	China Open Qualifying round	24 January 2017	Joe Perry	0–5
Jamie Jones	International Championship Qualifying round	29 September 2016	David John	1	Jamie Jones was found guilty of breaching Rule 4.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations by failing to report the approach to David John in the manipulation of the outcome of the match between John and Graeme Dott at the International Championship Qualifiers in 2016. Jones admitted breaches of WPBSA Members Rules following an investigation by the WPBSA Integrity Unit supported by Sportradar and the UK Gambling Commission SBIU. The case against Jones was heard on 11 January 2019 by the WPBSA Disciplinary Committee. Jones was sentenced to a sixteen-month ban reduced to twelve months, which is back-dated to the beginning of his suspension on 11 October 2018 and ran until 10 October 2019. Jones was also ordered to pay £9,000 in costs. He returned to the Snooker main tour in the 2020–21 season.
			Graeme Dott	6
Zhang Jiankang	European Masters Qualifying	22 July 2022	Jack Lisowski	1–5	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring An independent tribunal found Zhang guilty of fixing the result of his match against Jack Lisowski at the European Masters, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations. He was also found guilty of betting on matches. Zhang was sentenced to a ban of two years and eleven months, reduced from four years and five months for his guilty plea, which will run until 1 December 2025. He was also ordered to pay £7,500 towards costs.
Chen Zifan	European Masters Qualifying	24 July 2022	Aaron Hill	1–5	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring Despite plans to fix the results of three matches being abandoned in two cases, an independent tribunal found Chen guilty of fixing or conspiring to fix the results of three matches in total, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations. Chen was sentenced to a ban of five years, reduced from seven and a half years for his guilty plea, which will run until 20 December 2027. He was also ordered to pay £7,500 towards costs.
	British Open Last 32	9 August 2022	Mink Nutcharut	4–2
	Northern Ireland Open Qualifying	23 August 2022	Ng On-yee	4–1
Zhao Jianbo	Northern Ireland Open Qualifying	26 August 2022	Aaron Hill	0–4	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring An independent tribunal found Zhao guilty of fixing the result of his match against Aaron Hill at the Northern Ireland Open, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations. He was also found guilty of betting on matches. Zhao was sentenced to a ban of two years and four months, reduced from three years and six months for his guilty plea, which will run until 7 April 2025. He was also ordered to pay £7,500 towards costs.
Bai Langning	British Open Qualifying	26 September 2022	Zhao Xintong	1–4	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring Even though Bai backed out of the plan to fix the result of his match at the British Open against Zhao Xintong, an independent tribunal found Chen guilty of conspiring to fix the result of one match, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations. Bai was sentenced to a ban of two years and eight months, reduced from four years for his guilty plea, which will run until 6 August 2025. He was also ordered to pay £7,500
Chang Bingyu	British Open Last 32	28 September 2022	Jamie Jones	1–4	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring An independent tribunal found Chang guilty of fixing the result of his match against Jamie Jones at the British Open, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations. He was also found guilty of betting on matches. Zhou was sentenced to a ban of two years, reduced from three for his guilty plea, which will run until 7 December 2024. He was also ordered to pay £7,500 towards costs.
Liang Wenbo	—	—	—	—	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring An independent tribunal found Liang guilty of fixing or conspiring to fix the results of five matches in total, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations, and of inducing players to fix the results of nine matches, in violation of Rule 2.1.2.4. He was also found guilty of betting on matches, threatening Chang Bingyu, destroying evidence, and not cooperating with the investigation. Liang received a lifetime ban and was ordered to pay £43,000 towards costs.
Li Hang	—	—	—	—	Further information: § Chinese match-fixing ring An independent tribunal found Li guilty of fixing or conspiring to fix the results of seven matches in total, in breach of Rules 2.1.2.1 and 2.2 of the WPBSA Members Rule and Regulations, and of inducing players to fix the results of seven matches, in violation of Rule 2.1.2.4. He was also found guilty of betting on matches, destroying evidence, and not cooperating with the investigation. Li received a lifetime ban and was ordered to pay £43,000 towards costs.
Mark King	Welsh Open Qualifying round	13 February 2023	Joe Perry	0–4	King was suspended with immediate effect on 18 March 2023, following irregular betting patterns reported to the WPBSA.

Chinese match-fixing ring

Between October 2022 and January 2023, amid the biggest match-fixing investigation in the sport's history, the WPBSA suspended ten Chinese players—Liang Wenbo, Li Hang, Lu Ning, Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Zhao Jianbo, Chang Bingyu, Bai Langning, Chen Zifan and Zhang Jiankang—and subsequently brought match-fixing charges against all of them. In total, they were charged with fixing or conspiring to fix the results of 24 matches between 2014 and October 2022. In addition to the 22 matches listed below, Lu Ning was also charged with fixing two other matches in the 2014–15 snooker season.

The bulk of the match-fixing was arranged by Liang Wenbo and Li Hang, sometimes working with each other and, at other times, independently. The two players had a slightly different modus operandi; whilst Li was often cautious and conducted his fixes with a view to evading detection, Liang's focus was on maximising financial gain and he often intimidated or threatened the younger players. The inquiry heard from three players who were ultimately not charged: Cao Yupeng, Xu Si and Yuan Sijun. Cao was approached twice by Liang but he and his wife declined to carry out the fixes. Xu Si also refused to fix a result when Liang approached him. Yuan was regarded as an "unimpressive" witness, but ultimately no charges were brought against him.

The cases were heard by an independent disciplinary tribunal, and in June 2023 all ten players were successfully prosecuted on various match-fixing charges in 20 of the 24 matches. Seven of the ten players were all also found guilty of betting offences. Liang and Li both received lifetime bans from the sport, whilst the other eight players received bans ranging from five years and four months to one year and eight months, backdated to the beginning of their suspensions. Liang and Li were each required to pay £43,000 in costs, and the other eight were each required to pay £7,500 in costs.

† Result was not fixed					Liang Wenbo	Li Hang	Lu Ning	Yan Bingtao	Zhao Xintong	Zhao Jianbo	Chang Bingyu	Bai Langning	Chen Zifan	Zhang Jiankang
Charges brought against Chinese match-fixing ring
Event	Date	Player	Score	Opponent
European Tour – Event 5 Last 128	13 December 2014	Lu Ning	2–4	Oliver Lines											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
Paul Hunter Classic Last 16	28 August 2016	Yan Bingtao	1–4	Dominic Dale											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
UK Championship Last 128	25 November 2021	Yan Bingtao	6–0	Ng On-yee											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
Home Nations Series	10 October 2021 – 6 March 2022	Yan Bingtao	—	—											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
Welsh Open Last 32	3 March 2022	Yan Bingtao	2–4	Ricky Walden											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
Turkish Masters Last 16	11 March 2022	Yan Bingtao	4–5	Oliver Lines											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
European Masters Qualifying	22 July 2022	Zhang Jiankang	1–5	Jack Lisowski											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
European Masters Qualifying	23 July 2022	Lu Ning	0–5	Robert Milkins											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
European Masters † Qualifying	24 July 2022	Chen Zifan	1–5	Aaron Hill											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
British Open Qualifying	9 August 2022	Chen Zifan	4–2	Mink Nutcharut											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
Northern Ireland Open † Qualifying	23 August 2022	Chen Zifan	4–1	Ng On-yee											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
Northern Ireland Open † Qualifying	23 August 2022	Cao Yupeng	4–1	Dylan Emery											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
Northern Ireland Open Qualifying	25 August 2022	Yuan Sijun	3–4	Jimmy White											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
Northern Ireland Open Qualifying	26 August 2022	Zhao Jianbo	0–4	Aaron Hill											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
British Open † Qualifying	26 September 2022	Bai Langning	1–4	Zhao Xintong											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
British Open † Last 64	27 September 2022	Lu Ning	4–1	Zhou Yuelong											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
British Open † Last 64	28 September 2022	Yan Bingtao	4–0	Andy Lee											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
British Open Last 32	28 September 2022	Chang Bingyu	1–4	Jamie Jones											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
British Open Last 32	29 September 2022	Yan Bingtao	3–4	Jordan Brown											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
British Open Last 16	29 September 2022	Yuan Sijun	4–3	Anthony Hamilton											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
British Open † Last 32	29 September 2022	Xu Si	0–4	Judd Trump											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix
Scottish Open † Qualifying	13 October 2022	Cao Yupeng	4–2	Yuan Sijun											Conspiring to match-fix
															Inducing another to match-fix