John Higgins snookered again
Snooker is in the headlines once more for all the wrong reasons, with new allegations revealing that John Higgins tried to bet on himself to lose the 2009 world championship final against Shaun Murphy at the halfway point of the match.
It was only last week that the News of the World had secret footage of Higgins accepting an offer to take money in exchange for throwing frames. Now, the Sunday newspaper reveals that a former Ladbrokes employee received a call from Higgins at the mid-session interval of the world final looking to bet on himself to lose the match, asking for the odds on Murphy to win. Higgins went on to win at The Crucible 18-9, lifted his third world crown and won £250,000.
The former Ladbrokes employee has revealed that she was watching Higgins, and when the players headed for the interval, it was five minutes later she received a phone call. “The phone rang so I answered and asked for the account ID. He gave me his name and password but I knew it was him straight away from the soft Scottish accent. All his notes came up on the account. His name, password, address, phone number, and there was also a security box on screen which said he was a professional snooker player.” Higgins said on the phone “I don’t want to walk away without anything... I just want to cover myself.”
Ladbrokes refused to put the bet down, telling Higgins that it was against the rules to bet on yourself in a tournament you were involved in. Higgins was believed to have wanted to put down around £1,000, but the employee could not remember the exact amount. Any type of bet that has been alleged is forbidden, and if it took place it would have been reported and investigated.
“We’re aware of what our reporting obligations are to the authorities,” said a Ladbrokes spokesman.
The call has been monitored and assessed by the gambling authorities and has been declared “clean.”
The fresh allegation comes on the back of Higgins and his manager Pat Mooney being secretly filmed in a hotel in Ukraine that Higgins was going to throw four frames in exchange for £261,000.
2010 world championship runner-up Graeme Dott and Mark Selby were also managed by Mooney, and since the allegations were revealed they have cut their connections with him. The bribe scandal from last week revealed new footage, this time showing Mooney talking about how easy it would be for him to set up the outcome of a match. He used the example of Higgins playing Dott in the World Series. “I'd say to Graeme, 'Graeme, for television we need this to go 5-3 either way, right'. I could say it to Mark Selby. I could say it to any of them,” said Mooney.
Since these allegations were made, Mooney was forced to resign from the WPBSA board and Higgins was suspended pending further investigations.
Higgins, the three-time world champion, has vowed to clear his name following these allegations.
“I have been accused in the media of cheating. I have been accused of planning to fix matches. To both of those charges, I am one hundred per cent innocent. I will clear my name. There has been a whole range of emotions, despair, frustration, anger, rage. The biggest sense is betrayal. Where do you start? Where do you start?
“The despair is that I've been playing this sport since I was 10 years old. I have always conducted myself in a way I was brought up by my mum and dad. And then, with my own family round about me, I just couldn't believe these things were happening to me. They will never happen to me again. I've had many low points in my career, losing matches, but I've always fought back and that's what I intend to do with this. It has been a low point. My first emotion was thinking 'How has this all happened? But as the days went on I realised what the goal is, to clear my name of these charges of cheating and match fixing. I know I am one hundred per cent innocent. So there's no doubt in my mind that the goal is to be back playing snooker next year,” said Higgins.
It is a possibility that the News of the World already knew about this and held it back, allowing them to set up last week’s scandal knowing that Higgins would follow the bribe.
Both scandals are set to throw snooker into turmoil. Higgins’ career remains in doubt as well. It will be a difficult task for him to clear his name if he is not proven guilty. Would Higgins really be silly enough to get caught betting on himself so obviously?
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