Is match-fixing on the verge of ruining snooker?

There was much ironic laughter in the players' lounge and the press room during the concluding session of Stephen Maguire's 9–3 win over Jamie Burnett, the very scoreline overwhelmingly supported before score betting was suspended more than 48 hours earlier.

As the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's draconian disciplinary regulations discourage players from commenting on their fellow professionals, some players were reluctant to attach their names to their views but one said sarcastically "another great day for snooker", while another, expressing a common view, said "anyone who fixes a match should be slung out of the game".

But emphasising that their comments were general and not connected to the Maguire/Burnett match, former world champions Stephen Hendry, Dennis Taylor and Ken Doherty all spoke out. "Anyone throwing a result should be banned for life. It's such a serious matter," said Hendry. "Anyone found guilty of match-fixing has no place in the game," added Taylor. Doherty said he was unhappy when such controversies arose: "You find yourself defending your sport — 99% of professionals are very honest. I think the game is clean but the only way to make sure is to investigate the matter thoroughly."

After commentating on the match for the BBC, I believe that there should be an independent inquiry based on betting patterns and an analysis of the match tape, as was the case in 1995 when Peter Francisco, after losing 10–2 to Jimmy White in the World Championship, was banned for five years.

That tape was analysed by three experienced professionals qualified to evaluate not only the difficulty of any missed pots but, more crucially, the logic of shot selections and the contexts in which mistakes or questionable choices were made. In its official statement the WPBSA said: "In past incidents, which are extremely rare, we have taken a particularly stringent line where players have been judged guilty of match-fixing or intention to match-fix."

However, the only match-fixing case prosecuted to a conclusion was Francisco's, following a tip-off from Bola, the forerunner of the Association of British Bookmakers, alerting the association in advance. A former world champion, John Spencer, was then appointed to watch the match.

Quinten Hann was suspended for eight years for intent to match-fix after the Sun secretly recorded a conversation with reporters posing as a gambling syndicate. This "fix" did not actually take place but Hann's punishment was also influenced by his approach to his fellow Australian, Neil Robertson, suggesting that he too should prearrange the results of his matches.

Other suspicious matches tended to involve lower-ranked players in early rounds with comparatively small sums at stake but, in the last three years, such suspicions have become more frequent and at a higher level of the game. As the initial stages of the 2006 and 2007 Grand Prix tournaments were contested on a league basis, situations inevitably arose where there was an inequality of incentive between those players certain of qualifying and those who had to win their last match or, alternatively, those who could no longer qualify and those who could. Such suspicions also arose at the round-robin stage of last season's Malta Cup.

In September suspicious betting patterns attendant on Peter Ebdon's 5–0 defeat by Liang Wenbo in the Northern Ireland Trophy occasioned a referral to the Gambling Commission. The match was untelevised and the WPBSA has declined to confirm whether it has sought statements from the referee and others who may have witnessed all or part of the match.

Apart from the least reflective of players, the prevailing feeling is that match-fixing could become a fatal cancer in terms of the game's credibility, not merely with sponsors but the public. It is in this context that the WPBSA needs to be seen to be taking action and, if appropriate imposing punishments in an attempt to stamp out this practice. For the moment, though, Sir Rodney Walker, the WPBSA's chairman, has declined to comment.