John Higgins is set to make comeback
Former World Champion John Higgins will make his return to snooker against Joe Jogia at the European Championship Tour in Germany on 11 November.
The Scottish player was banned from snooker for six months after bringing the game into disrepute, while his manager Pat Mooney received a lifetime ban from the sport.
Higgins was recorded at a meeting in Kiev by undercover journalists who were pretending to be businessmen. The journalists offered Higgins money to lose frames.
However, Higgins was found innocent of taking bribes, but because he didn’t report the incident he was found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute.
Despite his absence from the game, Higgins is still ranked number three in the world and will be eager to reclaim his number one ranking, which is now held by Neil Robertson.
The current World Champion feels that Higgins will receive a mixed reaction from players and fans when he returns, but he was keen for the Scot to return to the circuit.
"Some players probably feel the suspension should have been for longer, some players feel it was probably right. It's not John Higgins' fault. All he can do is plead his case and take whatever the suspension or fine was. I think everyone's looking forward
to having John back in the game. He's a fantastic player. We're all human beings and make mistakes. John will be welcomed back by me for sure,” said Robertson.
Higgins will be expected to advance past Jogia in the first round of the competition, but the player will view the tournament as a way to ease himself back into competitive action.
The former World Champion is expected to draw a large crowd in Germany due to his controversial return to the game.
Jogia will hope to take advantage of Higgins’ circumstances come match day.
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