Snooker match-fixer Stephen Lee could pocket lifetime ban
Stephen Lee was today found guilty of match fixing, labelled "the worst case of snooker corruption" – including two occasions in Telford.
The 38-year-old ace denied the allegations which concerned seven matches played between 2008 and 2009. They included Lee throwing the first frame against Stephen Hendry and Mark King at the 2008 UK Championship at the Telford International Centre.
Lee also deliberately lost matches against Ken Doherty and Marco Fu at the 2008 Malta Cup and lost games by a pre-determined score to Neil Robertson at the 2008 Malta Cup and to Mark Selby at the 2009 China Open.
He similarly conspired to lose his 2009 World Championship first round match to Ryan Day 10-4.
His penalty will be announced on 24 September with snooker's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, expected to push for a life ban.
"This is the worst case of snooker corruption that we've seen," said WPBSA disciplinary chairman Nigel Mawer.
"Stephen Lee was working with three different groups who were betting on multiple platforms and the exact score and frame outcomes for matches he played in those tournaments.
"The worst case is the World Championship because that is an iconic event. To think that someone could play in that and to arrange the outcome is more than shocking."
Lee, the winner of five ranking titles, has been suspended since October 2012, when he was ranked eighth in the world.
According to the WPBSA, payments of £40,000 were paid into Lee's wife's bank account between January 2008 and April 2009, while other deposits of £600, £1,000 and £2,000 are also known.
And World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn warned anyone who breaks the rules will be caught.
Hearn said: "The message is 'we can't stop you but we are going to catch you'.
"You never want to come across this in any sport because it is a blow to the sport concerned.
"But, perhaps in the wider picture, I'm very pleased that World Snooker and the WPBSA pursued the case because it took a long time to accumulate the necessary evidence.
"Snooker is buzzing as a global sport and there's an awful lot of money to be made out there. That's all now gone for Stephen Lee and he's paying a price."
