Snooker
Topic: John Higgins Scandal

I've watched the video's and imo there is no doubt that Higgins is guilty, for him to say that he thought he might be dealing with Russian mafia you would never have guessed, if he is telling the truth then he should take up acting he would be an oscar winner in his first film. The investigating team should use a lie detector test when interviewing him, as well as all of the other players connected to betting irregularities, maybe they do, not sure.

Snooker's image and the integrity of the game has once again taken a battering and Barry Hearn has the biggest challenge of his life to try and clean up the sport and the public's perception of it, good luck with that Barry, rather you than me..

One thing in Barry HEarns favour is that he has made the game of darts look much more professional and really bought a lot of good changes, as well as clamping down hard on players who get out of line. Okay, thats more the DRA than Barry hearn himself but he won't stand for any nonsense, and he has a good reputation and if the sport isn't 100% now, you can sure as the devils playground bet it will be in the next 2-3 years if not sooner.

If you are guilty of fixing then you should be banned for life, same as Hanse Cronje was for his dealings in cricket.

Sadly this news doesn't surprise me in the slightest, nor did it surprise me when I heard about Stephen Lee & Steven Maguire being under investigation for similar claims.

It seems like too many people have been watching "The Color Of Money" and are using the "2 brothers and a stranger" hustle on the bookies and/or other players.

Sadly there will always be scammers in any sport in 1 form or another, especially in this day and age when too many people are trying to make a quick and easy few grand here and there.

Willie

I can honestly see this being the beginning of the end for snooker. This year there were only 6 or 7 ranking events and only a few others.

With the number 1 player banned (possibly for life if proven guilty, and even if innocent he may decide it better to quit), and with Ronnie on the verge of quitting again (this may tempt him to get out now) the sport has lost it's top 2.

Also despite what Hearn has said will he stay on and rejuvinate the sport with a risk of tarnishing his name and businesses??

If Hearn goes I think that may be it for snooker as a top televised sport. I do so hope I am wrong but as I have loved this sport for 25 years but this is not good at all.

I want to believe Higgins story but it just doesn't look or sound right. And if he was innocent why did he not inform the WSA/WPBSA immediately after "ESCAPING" from the Russians??

For the people quoting his £5m earnings - do you not think he might have spent some of it during his career, on food, clothes, a house, cars, holidays etc...? I think his average annual earnings are only a few hundred thousand, so an additional £250k a year for losing a few frames sounds like a very tempting deal to me!

I would love to be able to believe there is some truth to Higgin's "innocent" claim...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvBdq3A3Qpk

I've just watched a bit of the video and will watch no more until the toilet (news)paper decides to post the WHOLE UN-EDITED version online. By simply editing out little bits, the meaning of a whole conversation can be change. "Journalists" have been pulling this stunt for years - changing the starting point of a quote in an article to change the meaning of what was being said. Ever heard the phrase "taken out of context"?

Also, have a wee look at their body language. While Higgins' face doesn't give anything away (it rarely does when he's playing), his whole body language (and that of his manager) are both "defensive". Higgins starts with his arms folded and one leg over the other in such a way that it creates a barrier between him and the low-lives he was talking to.

I don't believe that he is guilty. I am sure this is an attempt to set Higgins up. One thing that does make me suspicious is the timing of this. The start of the World Championship match! The timing is similar to if a scandal came out about Beckham on Cup Final Day. It's like they said "what can we do to damage snooker?" Well, they've gone for the jugular and they've hit the their target. The question is whether the game can survive or if this injury is mortal.

Just a few thoughts on this.

Best wishes

thecardman



-----------------
The Cardman's Blog

I agree with you Peter about the editing of the video and the fact that it was from a newspaper.

The worrying part of the video for me is where they were discussing how the money could be swept under the carpet with Higgins coming up with the idea of his villa in Spain.

He was all to comfortable for me when discussing this (in terms of his body language - leg crossed over and arm behind his back almost in a relaxing stretch lol) and the fact that he was the one who suggested the possible solution means it is all the more suspicious (if he were under duress or fearing for his safety I doubt he would have been able to come up with any sort of ideas).

Granted some clever editing could have been put in with the reporter's voices placed in different positions to alter the conversation but the whole Spain thing for me really doesn't look good - I don't think you can interpret this any other way than how it looks.

On 2010-05-03 09:13 , OsamaBinPottin Wrote:

We're not saying he hasn't spent some of it but he'd have had to do a very good job of blowing £5m and now have to scrape the barrell to earn £250k per year.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Snooker-Star-John-Higgins-Suspended-Over-Frame-Fixing-Claims-Agent-Pat-Mooney-News-Of-The-World/Article/201005115623807?lpos=UK_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15623807_Snooker_Star_John_Higgins_Suspended_Over_Frame-Fixing_Claims%2C_Agent_Pat_Mooney%2C_News_Of_The_World

Quick interview with Pat Mooney.

Barry Hearn live press conference on Sky News now.

Don't forget the interest on his money plus investments he's probably made, im sure he has more than 5m. I hope he's proven to be innocent, but the evidence seems pretty conclusive to me.

About Higgins being comfortable "fearing for his safety" (???)

You cant say he hasnt proven to be able to be Pretty Cool under pressure, right!?
So, who knows? Maybe he DID feel uncomfortable there and just reacted like the Mr Cool he can be at the table?

Just a suggestion, personally I'm not going either side of the discussion... (yet...)

No offence to anybody here, I'd like not to believe it either, but it is rather like coming back from work to find your wife going down on the next door neighbour and her saying "a snake bit him, I was just trying to slurp out the poison"... You want to believe her, of course you do, it's your wife, you're a wonderful husband, surely she'd never do something like that...

Apparently the NOTW are going to produce additional evidence next week to show that Mooney had met with the guy on a few occasions beforehand already to prepare this deal. If this is true, it's going to make the 'terrified of the russian mafia' argument a lot less credible! They also apparently have evidence that they specifically targeted Higgins because they were tipped off by someone that he'd be up for it, suggesting that he might have a history of it.

Who here doesn't believe match-fixing goes on? I'd bet that 99.99% of people on here wouldn't be so naive as to suggest it doesn't happen. It's only because it's Higgins that people are even suggesting it might not be true despite the incredibly damning video (the full video is even more damning btw, for those who think it might be taken out of context...).

OBP

Is the full video online yet? If so, can you give us a link for it?

Thanks

thecardman

I don't think the full video is available - some guy on the snooker forum said he's seen it (could be lying of course) and wondered why the NOTW even edited it as the full version made it look even worse.

Wonder how much Higgins "picked up" for losing to Davis ?.........ker'ching !

Details of the previous meeting with Mooney, for those who haven't seen it (pasted from notw site). Not looking good! Maybe Mooney was in fear for his life at this meeting as well?


-------------
Scrawled on the paper, in answer to a question on whether the three-times world champ could throw a frame, were the shattering words: "No doubt it's possible."

By Thursday in Kiev, almost a month later, that possibility had become definite - almost signed and sealed - and Mooney was talking openly about getting Higgins to lose frames to other snooker stars to make it look genuine.

As Higgins played a game against a Ukranian at Kiev Snooker Hall, Mooney explained to our man how he intended to work the scam during the World Snooker Series later this year.

MOONEY: We're looking for John to maybe... get beat by the likes of ********* ******* (we are not naming other players for legal reasons), something like that, i.e. at our events.

REPORTER: Throw a frame.

MOONEY: It will happen. It will work... John can make it credible... "

Mooney added later: "You know John is an ambassador, and so therefore there's high credibility."

He babbled excitedly: "Yous could do good betting on how many frames score and things like that... will they get a frame, will they get two frames, you know... that sort of situation.

"And if you know who the players are and as long as there's some modicum of talent then it doesn't look obvious and again that's a certainty..."

When he said he would soon be putting the scheme to Higgins, our man insisted: "One frame will do it."

Tellingly, Mooney replied: "Exactly."

It was all a far cry from our initial rendezvous with Mooney back in Scotland. We sent an undercover team to meet him after being tipped off by a sports insider worried that Mooney and Higgins could be involved in match-fixing.

They posed as businessmen interested in organising a series of events linked to the World Snooker Series - effectively a European Tour of snooker.

We had two meetings with Mooney at the Radisson Blu hotel in the shadow of Edinburgh's historic castle in April where the agent wasted no time bragging about the potential business opportunities he could offer.

Recalling a recent event in China where Higgins was mobbed by snooker fans, Mooney gloated: "You'd actually have thought that Jesus had walked into town."

After discussing TV rights, sponsorship and the potential business benefits of extending the World Snooker Series, our reporter tentatively raised the subject of match-fixing for a betting syndicate. As a board member of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, Mooney should have immediately slapped down any such suggestions and alerted the game's authorities.

Instead he became shifty.

MOONEY: Are you with the Press?

REPORTER: No, come on.


MOONEY: (After scribbling on a piece of paper and pushing it towards our man): Just take that right, OK?

On it was written: "No doubt it's possible."

REPORTER: OK. But you and me have got to work this out.

The conversation turned to Mooney's client Higgins and the possibility that he would fix matches and how he might do it. Mooney was happy to discuss the mechanics of how his client could ensure he lost.

He said: "John could hit a ball in a pocket that would miss it by less than a quarter of an inch right. These guys can do that. It doesn't look like he lost by much but the ball just rattled in the jaws and things like that. And that's the capability of a great pro."

Again the agent got the jitters and raised his suspicions that the businessman was a journalist.

When pressed if he could get Higgins to do what the betting syndicate wanted, he scribbled on another piece of paper saying: "I'm giving you this for absolute right. That is it." This time the words read: "Definitely! Definitely!" Several minutes later, they walked to the nearby Last Drop pub - ironically named because in Edinburgh past it was where people went before being dragged to the gallows.

By now Mooney was eager to discuss further details of the underhand match fixing deal, assuring our man that he could bring Higgins on board and trying to wriggle out of the treachery of what was being proposed.

He was at pains to point out what were the best games in which to work the scam.

MOONEY: You see the thing is John will work with the people that work with him. If it's not the big boy games it doesn't really matter you know.

REPORTER: No exactly. That's what I'm saying. It's exhibition matches which is why I thought it's probably better to have it non-ranking, it's probably better isn't it?

MOONEY: Nah. It doesn't matter because it'll be minimal ranking anyway, minimal ranking. It doesn't make a difference to the guys that are way up there.

REPORTER: And, as I say, the places these guys (the syndicate) are gambling. They're not gambling BetFair, they're not gambling in Ladbrokes, they're gambling in places that you and I haven't even heard of... it's not about the love of snooker... they want to gamble and make a few quid.

MOONEY: We'll sort it out, you know.

REPORTER: Yeah. But you're going to sell it to John?

MOONEY: Aye. John's sold.

REPORTER: Sorry?

MOONEY: John's sold... er... John's sold at the moment on the event.

Mooney then began suggesting ways that games could be manipulated to benefit betting syndicates, saying: "Frame Three sort of scenario. As long as the guys are good enough, guys that make it look like there's a legitimate competition."

It didn't take him long to get down to what really mattered to him - the cash that would be on offer for cheating.

MOONEY: What kind of money would the player be looking at?

REPORTER: Well we'll have to negotiate. Certainly...

MOONEY: Rough figures.

REPORTER: We'll talk in Kiev about it but if he's going to throw a frame, obviously there's got to be something in it for him. There's got to be at least ten to 15 grand at least don't you think?

MOONEY: Yes.

REPORTER: Would that smooth it?

MOONEY: Yeah, in the right environment, yes.

On Thursday in Kiev, while Higgins was elsewhere in the hotel, Mooney developed the scam further on the World Series. He said: "If we bring in the lesser players every now and again - you don't always want to be the big, because the big names are the difficult ones to actually work with - you can get a frame, you can get results."

REPORTER: OK. Very clear, very clear. Will John lose a frame?

MOONEY: Yes, absolutely.

REPORTER: If we said lose frame three, he'd lose it?

MOONEY: Yeah.

Astonishingly, Mooney then outlined one suggested match fixing scam involving another star player ********* *********. And he suggested that matches can be deliberately lengthened by players to fill TV slots.

Mooney said: "In Warsaw (one of the World Series venues) what he's actually going to do is play someone like ********* *********. Right, and we say to *********, erm, look it's nothing for John to lose a frame to ***********, it's high credibility. You could guarantee for example a match score of 5-3. For John to win to win two frames against ********* is a certainty. That's not an IF, right? That's a certainty.

"************ doesn't even have to know there's a bet on. I'd say to ***********, 'for television we need this to go 5-3 either way, right'.

"I could say that to ********* ******** (another snooker star). I could say that to any of them. I'd say for television this needs to be 5-3 because we need that time slot."

Even as he detailed plans to fix games, Mooney explained how snooker was currently under the microscope over alleged corruption and detailed a previous episode of match fixing involving a player.

But despite that, he was still happy to discuss details of how much Higgins should secretly be paid.

"I reckon within any year, if John was involved in this, anywhere between probably 200,000 and 300,000 a year, would be sweet money for John. That would be very, very sweet money for John... there are several ways that can happen. The cleanest way is to say 'Let's put in more sponsorship' so it doesn't necessarily go to the player."

This really does make me wonder if Higgins did definately throw the match against Steve Davis. I sincerely hope not...but nothing would surprise me now

Do they have video footage of these meetings as well as the one up on the net? Not being funny but anybody could have fabricated this to stick the knife in even more.

I know that Higgins looks guilty, and he may well be but it is still a case of proving that he is guilty, rather than him having to prove his innocence.

Have to agree with Peter, I can't believe this and won't until the full video is shown. And I bet it doesn't appear just like the Hann video / audio was never made public.

All I know is journalists are scumbags and twist everything around just to get headlines without caring about who gets caught up in it.

Would the world number one player (and defending world champion at the time) risk anything like this? I honestly don't think he would be that stupid.