World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), snooker’s global governing body, has confirmed its Integrity Unit is to investigate ‘unusual betting’ during a match between Jamie Burnett and John Sutton.
The organisation was alerted over bets placed in Wednesday’s game that saw Scotsman Burnett beat Ireland’s Sutton 6-0 at the International Championship qualifiers.
This is the second occasion that the WPBSA has been alerted to a match involving Burnett, following an earlier investigation into a match between Burnett and fellow Scot Stephen Maguire in 2008.
No charges were brought against Burnett in the previous investigation.
In a statement, the governing body said: “The WPBSA Integrity Unit undertook specific measures both to monitor the match live and to examine the circumstances surrounding the match and player.
“Together with the Sports Betting Intelligence Unit at the Gambling Commission we are analysing the available information on this match to determine what action is appropriate.
“With their partners the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), the WPBSA Integrity Unit have information sharing agreements with the betting industry and closely monitor worldwide betting on all competitive snooker.”
Meanwhile, football’s global governing body Fifa has announced it is to extend the sanctions imposed on 13 players by the Estonian Football Association and two players by the Slovak Football Association in relation to match manipulation.
The new ruling will see the players’ bans extended so that they apply worldwide.
The Estonian body may issue further bans against the players involved after the conclusion of a police investigation
Slovakian players, Ivan Hodur and Robert Rak, were banned or 11 and 15 years, respectively, for their involvement in fixing a number of club friendly matches in 2011.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com