Hearn: I fear for the future of snooker

WORLD Snooker chief Barry Hearn yesterday warned that the sport could die unless greedy players learn to resist temptation.

Hearn, chairman of the sport’s governing body, insisted the sport can recover from the allegations that John Higgins agreed to a match-fixing deal.

He is determined to “cure the malaise” but believes the players are ultimately responsible for snooker’s future.

And Hearn stated that Pat Mooney, Higgins’ manager, has “no future in snooker”.

Mooney accompanied Higgins in Kiev when the pair were filmed by the News of the World newspaper allegedly agreeing to accept £261,000 (€301,600) in return for fixing the outcome of four frames in matches to be played later this year.

New world number one Higgins denies any wrong-doing and has vowed to clear his name. In a statement he said he became worried during the Kiev meeting and suspected those involved were Russian Mafia.

In the statement issued on Sunday, Higgins said: “When it was suggested that I throw frames in return for large sums of money, I was really spooked, I just wanted to get out of the hotel and onto the plane home.”

However, Hearn told a press conference in Sheffield that Higgins should have got in touch from the moment he was aware of any trouble.

“One of the reasons I was so upset with the video evidence etcetera was I didn’t get a phone call,” Hearn said.

“If someone approaches, and I can’t stop people outside approaching players, what I can say is it’s their responsibility to report that instance immediately so the authorities are aware and can act on them.”

Hearn repeated his view that the case should be dealt with swiftly, stressing it would be over in days and weeks rather than months and years.

Hearn continued: “If there is a sickness in snooker, that’s the death knell for snooker unless that sickness is removed, and it will be removed if it exists at all.

“My personal view and the view of the board is any sickness will be removed in a brutal manner because we will not tolerate it.

“You can be confident that, proven guilty, the penalties will be very harsh indeed.’’

Hearn has known Higgins for about 15 years and was stunned to learn of the claims about him.

“As a friend... it doesn’t look good John,” Hearn said.

“We all watched the video, we’ve all seen it. I can only judge on the visual evidence that’s in front of me.

“I stressed to John that this is something that is not going away, that it will be treated as a very, very serious offence potentially, and if he’s found guilty will carry the most severe penalty.’’

Two unconnected and ongoing police investigations plus the weekend claims about Higgins have given Hearn a headache.

“We’re not idiots. we know we have a police investigation by Strathclyde (Police) into two players (Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett),” he said.

“We know we’ve got another player who’s also being investigated in Stephen Lee.

“It’s an issue we have to deal with and there may be other revelations we have to deal with in the future.

“The only people that cure this are the players themselves, that stand up and be counted and say, ‘I am a professional sportsman. I started playing this game because I love it’.

“They have a God-given ability but with that comes a responsibility to play within the rules and maintain the credibility of the sport.

“Clearly we have the worst-case scenario developed here where the entire fabric of the sport has been brought under question.

“It’s a body blow but it’s not a knockout blow.’’

Hearn invited Mooney onto the board of the WPBSA in January, and ordered him to resign on Sunday.

“I don’t feel humiliation ever in inviting someone who I thought could do a service to the game,” Hearn said.

“I’m disappointed in his attitude and his actions that I’ve seen on videotape and read transcripts of.

“I’ve told him quite clearly that I expected him to resign immediately, which he did, and also that from what I’ve seen I see no future for him in snooker.

“As far as Pat Mooney’s concerned, he will have his own defence I’m sure, but from what I’ve seen he is not to be any part of the process of moving World Snooker forward.”