Two Chinese snooker players at heart of match-fixing scandal given lifetime bans

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has hit all 10 players at the centre of the sport’s latest and largest match-fixing scandal with heavy suspensions, including two lifetime bans from the sport.

Liang Wenbo and Li Hang, who were handed the lifetime bans, were both found guilty of several offences, including fixing or being party to fixing matches for betting purposes, trying to convince other players to fix matches, and attempting to cover up their involvement.

Liang’s conduct was described by the WPBSA Disciplinary Commission as being “particularly disgraceful” and uncooperative, and that he applied pressure on a large number of Chinese players, many of them young and impressionable, which justified “a sanction of the highest order”.

Li’s conduct was branded “utterly unacceptable” as the Disciplinary Commission explained how he befriended younger Chinese players and “enticed them into match fixing for his own financial ends”. Both players were ordered to pay costs of £43,000 each.

Meanwhile, former Masters champion Yan Bingtao was banned from the sport until December 2027 and will have to pay £7,500 in costs, while former UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong has been suspended until September 2024 and will have to pay the same costs as Bingtao.

The other punishments handed out by the WPBSA include a near five-and-half-year ban to Lu Ning and a five-year ban to Chen Zifan. Zhao Jianbo, Chang Bingyu, Bai Langning and Zhang Jiankang were all issued suspensions of two to three years. 

Outlining the circumstances of the case, the Disciplinary Commission outlined how the players, who were all from mainland China and most of which were all based in Sheffield, hung out together by going out for meals and playing cards together.  

During Covid-19, they were unable to return to China and “many of them felt, lonely, bored and even more isolated in the UK”, the Disciplinary Commission said.

It added: “Many of them suffered on a continuing basis from financial difficulties, exacerbated by the pressure of living costs in the UK, the expense of travelling to compete in snooker tournaments abroad and ill-judged gambling and betting habits.

“These set of circumstances made the youngsters among the respondents particularly susceptible to influence and manipulation from the older Chinese snooker players, who took them under their wing.”

The cases were heard at the end of April and the beginning of May, with the Disciplinary Commission issuing its findings on 6 June. The players involved have until 20 June to appeal the decision. 

Jason Ferguson, chairman of the WPBSA, said: ‘This has been a very complex case. It has been heart-breaking to see some young talented players fall foul of the WPBSA Conduct Regulations through pressure exerted by two senior players. This behaviour has been recognised as wholly unacceptable by the imposition of two lifetime bans from participating in recognised snooker in any way.

This was one of the largest clampdowns in match-fixing in Snooker’s history, and there may still be more punishments to be issued as current world number 57 Mark King is also under investigation by the WPBSA after it discovered irregular betting patterns around his loss to Joe Perry at the Welsh Open in February 2023.

Following the punishments issued by the WPBSA, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) released a statement detailing how it welcomed the news and how WPBSA used the information it and its members provided to launch this investigation.

The IBIA identified suspicious matches involving Jianbo, Xintong, Binyu, Sinjun and Ning in 2022 and forwarded this to the WPBSA.

On the news, Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, commented: “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.”