What Is Going On With Match-Fixing In Snooker?

Following news that Chen Zifan has become the eighth Chinese player to be suspended from the World Snooker Tour for allegations relating to match-fixing, it begs the question – what is happening in the sport?

Zifan, who is 27, has the right to appeal the decision, though his suspension takes place with immediate effect while the investigation is ongoing.

Over the last few years, there have been a number of cases of match-fixing, particularly with Chinese players from a betting perspective; however, in 2013, Englishman Stephen Lee was infamously banned for 12 years after being found guilty of seven match-fixing charges, despite having repeatedly denied the allegations.

He could well return to the game next year, though would first have to repay £125,000 in legal fees, while he will also be 50, with serious question marks surrounding whether he would be able to discover his past form.

It remains to be seen what the punishment will be for Zifan if he is found guilty; however, at 27, he is still relatively young in snooker terms and could well have seriously dented his hopes of climbing the world rankings, having reached a career-high of 76 in the world rankings last year.

How Much Influence Has Betting Had On Snooker?

Over the last few years, betting in snooker has become considerably big, with huge sums being wagered on the major tournaments, which can be a major clue that some kind of match-fixing may be taking place.

In 2018, Yu Delu, also of China, was banned from the sport for 10 years and nine months following an investigation into alleged match-fixing, while Cao Yupeng (also from China) received a six-year ban following a guilty plea for the same charge, despite three-and-a-half years of this being suspended.

This particular case highlighted 38 betting accounts that used advanced software which tried to place a total of £250,000 worth of wagers in a split second on the outcome of a match involving the player.

Had this not been detected by Chinese bookmakers’ own advanced software, it could have netted £1 million in winnings. One of the reasons why betting on snooker is so popular is because, for those who follow the game religiously and are aware of players’ strengths and form, it can be quite easy to predict an outcome, despite the fact that anything can happen.

As a result, it is not unusual to see large bets placed on games, especially those that have particularly low odds; in some cases, they are a guarantee for most punters. One of the problems that bookmakers have is distinguishing between those bets that are suspicious, while the in-play market that sites offer can also make this even harder to police.

Some examples could see a player taking a three-game lead in a frame, knowing that his opponent’s odds will have lengthened before throwing this away, and as such, a pre-arranged outcome for in-play bets with accomplices can potentially make this harder to identify.

Is It Really Worth Sacrificing Your Integrity?

For the majority of sportsmen and women or professional athletes, the aim is for them to reach the top of their sport by competing fairly, and while few are motivated by money, it is often a love of what they do and a desire to reach the top that keeps them going.

It is perhaps easy to understand the temptation for a select few who decide to ‘take a shortcut’ to potentially boost their bank balance; however, the argument is that those individuals who decide to go down this path have already potentially given up on ever reaching the top of the game.

One of the most interesting questions is why match-fixing is so prevalent among Chinese players, with one theory perhaps being an obvious school of thought. There is currently a significant poverty gap in China between the elite and the lower classes – no doubt many players in the game have friends that could be categorised as being in the latter.

As such, the temptation to try to ‘help them out’ in this way suggests morals being conflicted – doing bad to do good.

While this could be perhaps deemed as a far-fetched theory, it may be true in some cases, despite this justification having never been publicly used. Despite this, it raises the issue of whether it really is worth sacrificing your integrity.

What Can Be Done To Prevent This In The Future?

It is perhaps shocking that so many players have been convicted of match-fixing in the sport and also that they have continued to believe that it is worth the risk. Also, it casts potential suggestions that perhaps many more have got away with this over the last few years.

The fact that betting sites have sophisticated software programs in place to detect suspicious activity is encouraging from the perspective of keeping the sport fair; however, there is perhaps more that can be done to help raise awareness and prevent match-fixing in the future.

From various schemes and initiatives whereby players become ambassadors (and, as such, see their profile raised, leading to potential sponsorship opportunities in the long term), maybe one way of incentivising players to stay on the right side of the law while even educational seminars on the dangers of sports betting and match-fixing could be another to help improve the sport’s reputation.

Meanwhile, the UKGC is in the process of a review, which could see maximum betting limits imposed at sites as a way to monitor the most at-risk gamblers. While this is not necessarily a foolproof plan, due to those who can prove their source of income likely to be able to increase their maximum bet limit, it could go some way to preventing large stakes from being made in the future, should this bill be passed.

What is certain is that something definitely needs to be done in the game to help prevent match-fixing in the future, with now 10 players banned or suspended from the sport in as many years.

From a commercial perspective, this does not look good either, with four-time world champion Mark Selby indicating this recently: “It’s not good – especially for sponsors, looking ahead into the future, wanting to get the big sponsors involved in the game.

“But World Snooker are doing all the right things.”

Meanwhile, another former world champion of the sport, Shaun Murphy questioned how much of an effect this could have on tournaments in China: “The concern for us as a body of players is what effect this is having on re-establishing our events in China, which have been postponed since the Covid pandemic began three years ago,” he said.

“We are desperate for those events, which represent about a third of our income.”

“Following the success of the Hong Kong Masters event in the summer, including a record crowd of 9,500, we were buoyed by the thoughts that the events in China would recommence,” added Murphy.

“Nobody can measure the damage the suspensions are doing to snooker around the world, and particularly in China, it’s not helping.”

Whatever measures are put in place over the next few months to help prevent this, it remains to be seen whether match-fixing will be completely eradicated from the sport.