John Higgins, the Snooker World Champion, has said that he is innocent and he will fight allegations of match fixing. He has vowed to clear his name. Higgins was caught on film by undercover journalists along with manager Pat Mooney, accepting a bribe of £261,000 to lose frames in a match.
It seems that everywhere one turn in the sporting world, something fishy is going on. Accepting a bribe to lose frames in a snooker match is very off but many sleazy things have been going on in the world of sports. From the IPL chief being investigated for corruption and match fixing charges, to French footballers allegedly having paid s*x with underage prostitutes, it seems like there is a cloud hanging over the sports world.
The Guardian newspaper reported that there were new allegations against Higgins, when he bet on himself to lose a match. He eventually lost that match as well. However, all the allegations only tarnish his image further. “The world No 1 snooker player whose suspension last week over match-fixing allegations threw the sport into turmoil vowed today to "vigorously defend" himself, as new claims emerged that he had bet on himself to lose in last year's world championship final.
Sunday's reports alleged that Higgins called a bookmaker to place a bet of around £1,000 on himself to lose at the halfway point of last year's final, which he went on to win,” (Guardian news)
Snooker seems to have seen a serious decline of late, with a few other players being investigated for illegal betting in recent times. One wonders whether the sport will ever recover from the latest hit. It may lose its fan following because of the recent developments. It is interesting to note though that Higgins is fervently claiming his innocence and one has to wonder if he is telling the truth or not.
If we look at it in a different light, why would the world's number one snooker player, who probably earns a lot of money anyway, needs to take a bribe like that or bet on himself to lose? Everyone would hope that if an athlete gets to the top of their game and becomes the world number one at anything, he should be given a sizable income so make him stay away from bribes.
Sponsorships, endorsements and money earned through winnings would probably allow for a very comfortable life. So maybe he is innocent as he claims and maybe he did not take the bribe or try to fix a match.
One of the key elements we are forgetting in this whole scenario is the propensity of human greed to surface at every turn. Greed is a very powerful motivator in sports and most other fields as well. People always want more, most are not happy with what they have and are in the constant pursuit of accumulating as much more as they can. More cars, more houses and more money is the only thing on the mind these days.
Now we do not know whether the allegations against Higgins are true or not, but there is a huge job for Snooker's governing body to do a serious cleanup job in the next few months and make sure that these kinds of stories are not heard anymore. Snooker needs to become a clean sport once again by placing stringent corrective measures in place. The fans will rejoice at having snooker's image being revived. The players on the contrary will feel safe in knowing that they will be treated in a respectable manner.
A lot of work remains for Higgins to clear his name. He has been working tirelessly in order to promote the sport of snooker across the world. Despite his efforts, Higgins is going to face an uphill task to try to clear his name and get his image out of the gutter.
Tags: