Sport

Snooker chiefs seek more information on O’Sullivan’s claims

World champion says he was offered bribe to fix a match in the past

Ronnie O’Sullivan has claimed he was offered £20,000 to fix a snooker match. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA
Ronnie O’Sullivan has claimed he was offered £20,000 to fix a snooker match. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA
Fri Oct 11 2013 - 15:01

Snooker’s disciplinary chiefs will be writing to Ronnie O’Sullivan asking for more information about his claim that he was offered a £20,000 bribe to fix a match.

O’Sullivan, 37, wrote in his new autobiography that he was approached about 10 years ago to fix a Premier League snooker match but rejected the offer outright.

“Someone rang me and said he’d like to meet me over in the forest and have a walk through the woods,” O’Sullivan wrote. “I knew the fella, and it was someone you don’t want to mess around with.

“What they were offering me, 20 grand, I could get for a couple of nights’ work.”

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O’Sullivan added: “But it’s not something I would or could do. I couldn’t live with myself; I’d feel that was robbing somebody.”

Under current rules brought in three years ago, O’Sullivan would face disciplinary action for not reporting the approach within 24 hours but those were not in force at the time.

World Snooker's chairman Barry Hearn said: "I understand the approach has not been reported and the WPBSA (World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association) will be writing to Ronnie O'Sullivan to ask for more information.

“The current disciplinary code of conduct was not in force then but now any approach has to be reported in 24 hours.”

The claim comes after former world number five Stephen Lee was last month banned for 12 years after being found guilty of seven match-fixing charges.

Hearn also poured cold water on O'Sullivan's claim that World Snooker attempted to make him lose this year's World Championship final against Barry Hawkins by changing the cloth to create a slower surface.

O’Sullivan went on to win 18-12 to become the first player this century to retain the title.

Hearn said: “If it was a conspiracy it wasn’t very good one! There was no complaint whatsoever from anyone at the time about changing the cloth, which is something that happens quite often during tournaments.

“Ronnie made a record number of hundred breaks during the match and he is such a big name that it was a great result for the sport.”

In his book Running, O'Sullivan said he had a furious row about the change of cloth with a tournament official, and states: "The conspiracy theorist in me believes it was done to stop me winning the World Championship."