Hearn in anti-corruption pledge

Snooker supremo Barry Hearn has warned he will take strong action if any evidence is discovered of corruption in the sport.

Hearn, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, is confident events such as the big-money Betfred.com World Championship are not vulnerable to crimes such as match-fixing.

However, he is aware of rumours which have existed within the sport, and ongoing investigations.

Discussing the threat of corruption and not any case specifically, Hearn told BBC Radio 'Five Live': "I have one-to-one conversations with everyone, and putting it mildly I let them know that I am not someone to mess about with on this.

"The integrity of the game comes above everything. If they ever - ever - give any of my sponsors an excuse not to sponsor because there's doubts on the integrity, they will be dealt with in a most summary fashion.

"Under my leadership I will guarantee this is not going to happen, but I'm not ever sure it has happened. This is a perception issue.

"If someone has ever done anything wrong, they will be treated harshly."

It emerged yesterday that Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett have been referred to prosecutors in Scotland over betting patterns during a UK Championship match.

Maguire, 29, and Burnett, 34, were referred to the procurator fiscal with three other men after Strathclyde Police's economic crime unit spent 17 months investigating claims linked to the result of a game between the two Scots in Telford on December 14 2008.

The procurator fiscal at Hamilton will now decide whether charges should be brought.

The first-round match, which was subject to investigations by World Snooker and the Gambling Commission, was won 9-3 by Maguire after Burnett failed to pot a black ball that would have reduced his score to 8-4.

Before the match, World Snooker was contacted by bookmakers reporting suspicious betting patterns, with heavy gambling on a 9-3 outcome.

Maguire and Burnett were questioned by police in August last year but later released without charge. Both men strenuously denied any wrongdoing and have pledged to co-operate with any investigations.

Hearn, who took up his WPBSA post in December 2009, has vowed to introduce more tournaments to the snooker circuit and claims players have become "part-time professionals".

He said: "I believe in the future by doing more events and giving players more opportunity takes away the basic reason for thinking anything other than the love of the game."

Six-time world champion Steve Davis suggests snooker has less to worry about than other sports.

Davis said: "Even if there is any kind of fixing, and nobody could ever condone any of that, in relation to something like probably horse-racing I think it's pretty petty stuff, pretty small-time."

Davis added, however: "In any sport, if you're playing for a pittance and someone comes along and offers you more, there's a lot of people who are in a situation where they're desperate to eat and they've got to pay the bills."