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 , 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 historyâÂÂSilvino Francisco, Stephen Lee and Scottish practice partners Stephen Maguire and Jamie BurnettâÂÂbut 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 playersâÂÂLiang Wenbo, Li Hang, Lu Ning, Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Zhao Jianbo, Chang Bingyu, Bai Langning, Chen Zifan and Zhang JiankangâÂÂbeing banned for match-fixing offences. Ringleaders Liang and Li both received lifetime bansâÂÂthe first ever handed outâÂÂfrom 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, Mark King and amateur players John Sutton and Simon Blackwell. Four other playersâÂÂQuinten Hann, John Higgins, Joe Jogia, and Jamie JonesâÂÂhave served bans on match-fixing related charges.
Between October 2022 and January 2023, amid the biggest match-fixing investigation in the sport's history, the WPBSA suspended ten Chinese playersâÂÂLiang Wenbo, Li Hang, Lu Ning, Yan Bingtao, Zhao Xintong, Zhao Jianbo, Chang Bingyu, Bai Langning, Chen Zifan and Zhang JiankangâÂÂand 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 2014âÂÂ15 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 ã43,000 in costs, and the other eight were each required to pay ã7,500 in costs.