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Shaun Murphy explains why he wants lifetime bans for match-fixing - 'cheats can't be allowed to exploit snooker'
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Published 15/12/2022 at 10:36 GMT
Shaun Murphy has told Eurosport why cheats can't be allowed to prosper amid the sport's match-fixing probe crisis. The 2005 world champion has explained why lifetime bans must be handed out for such conduct with seven players under investigation for allegedly "manipulating the outcome of matches". Stream the 2022 English Open live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk
'I hope we never see them again' - Murphy wants life bans for guilty match-fixers
Video credit: TNT Sports
Shaun Murphy has doubled down on his belief that any snooker player found guilty of match-fixing must be banned from the game for life.
The 2005 world champion spoke to Eurosport with seven players suspended – including former Masters champion Yan Bingtao and 2016 English Open winner Liang Wenbo – by the WPBSA (World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association) amid "allegations of manipulating the outcome of matches for betting purposes".
WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson has launched an investigation after firing a stern warning to any professional competitor involved in cheating.
"If any player thinks they can get away with it [match-fixing], by the way, they're completely foolish because we can find it easily," he told Eurosport.
Liang was suspended by snooker chiefs in October before five other players – Lu Ning, Li Hang, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning and Chang Bingyu – joined him last week. 2021 Masters winner Yan was banned from competing at the English Open on Monday morning.
"Very dark days for anyone involved in the sport. We're all very disappointed in the news that has come out," Murphy told Eurosport.
"It is very important to make the point that these seven guys are innocent until proven otherwise.
"They must be given every right to a fair trial, to give their side of the story.
"But yes, I've been extremely honest in my opinions. You don't always want to put your head above the parapet in this world we live in.
"But I think anyone guilty of match-fixing, their existence in the snooker world should be over.
"And if any of those players are found guilty, I hope we never see them again."
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'I hope we never see them again' - Murphy wants life bans for guilty match-fixers
Video credit: TNT Sports
The English Open in Brentwood, the final major event of the season, has been overshadowed by the gravity of the match-fixing claims.
Chang Bingyu has taken to social media in China to claim he was "bullied, threatened and intimidated" before a British Open match with Jamie Jones in September. He lost the last-32 encounter 4-1.
But Murphy believes the sport cannot be seen to go easy on claims of coercion because it offers potential cheats "an opportunity to exploit the game".
"Listen, if somebody has been coerced and bullied and threatened into these things, that's terrible and that needs dealing with," he said.
"That's a criminal thing to be dealt with in the courts. We're just trying to play snooker and look after the integrity of the sport.
"That has to come first. If someone claims to have been coerced, how do you prove that?
"My point is that offers a little, not a way out, but these people who do want to gain an advantage and do want to cheat – and they are a small minority of people we have to make that point – it offers them an opportunity to exploit the game.
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'Completely foolish' - Ferguson fires warning as match-fixing investigation extends to Yan
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"To exploit us, to exploit you guys [the media] who are trying to promote the sport around the world, all the people who try to represent this sport properly.
"It gives them an opportunity to exploit us. We have to stamp it out.
"My ideal scenario is that these guys come out of it with a clean reputation, they get the chance to clear their name and they come out of it as innocent and it has all been a big mistake. It's all been a big misunderstanding.
"That is my absolute dream scenario. Nobody wants to be going through what we're going through. This game is hard enough."
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‘A really bad day for snooker’ – White after Yan banned amid match-fixing investigation
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