Lee’s ban ‘effectively for life’

Snooker’s leaders insist that Stephen Lee has been handed an effective lifetime ban after he was given a record 12-year suspension for seven charges of match-fixing.

The 38-year-old angrily protested his innocence after the announcement of the sanction and is expected to lodge an appeal later this week.

The former world number five was found guilty of match-fixing charges relating to seven matches in 2008 and 2009, and the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association had been seeking a lifetime ban.