Ssb - john higgins statement

[MySockPuppet]

John Higgins has issued the following statement in response to today's News of the World story:

"Can I say that I have never been involved in any form of snooker match-fixing. In my 18 years playing professional snooker I have never deliberately missed a shot, never mind intentionally lost a frame or a match.

"In all honestly I became very worried at the way the conversation developed in Kiev. When it was suggested that I throw frames in return for large sums of money, I was really spooked. I just wanted to get out of the hotel and onto the plane home.

"I didn't know if this was the Russian Mafia or who we were dealing with. At that stage I felt the best course of action was just to play along with these guys and get out of Russia (sic).

"Those who know me are aware of my love for snooker and that I would never do anything to damage the integrity of the sport I love. My conscience is 100% clear."

The WPBSA has suspended Higgins from all future tournaments pending an investigation. His manager, Pat Mooney, has resigned from the board of the governing body.


More...

[kokokol]

Oh I'd love to believe him, but...

[Erwan_BZH]

Please, may his version be true....... (((

[hegeland]

So why didn't he inform Hearn OR ANY OTHER person about this right when they came back home? "Just play along", you're talking about crimes here! All credibility is lost when you come up with an explanation after you've been exposed.

The tape is obvious, his excuse is too late and totally unbelieveable. Get real John, and hang up your cue for good.

[JPK123]

Disappointing

If he's stupid enough to think Kiev is in Russia then he's certainly stupid enough to be complicit in all this.

[Erwan_BZH]

If he's stupid enough to think Kiev is in Russia then he's certainly stupid enough to be complicit in all this.

Before calling him stupid, check a bit the gepolitical facts over there!

Fact is Russian mafia is everywhere in this world, not only in Russia. Ukraine, as every other former Soviet states, is still closely tied with Russian interests.

[gojo]

Why would he bother with this for what is (to him) a measly 300,000 euros?

[Ekphantos]

Before calling him stupid, check a bit the gepolitical facts over there!

That has nothing to do with geopolitical facts... he talks about leaving Russia when he actually was in the Ukraine....

Totally unbelievable statement...

[JPK123]

Before calling him stupid, check a bit the gepolitical facts over there!

Fact is Russian mafia is everywhere in this world, not only in Russia. Ukraine, as every other former Soviet states, is still closely tied with Russian interests.

Yes, but -

"I didn't know if this was the Russian Mafia or who we were dealing with. At that stage I felt the best course of action was just to play along with these guys and get out of Russia.

I'm not saying that any such mafia restrict their activities purely to Russia, obviously not. John Higgins, however, was in Ukraine. All I'm saying is that surely he knew where he was. Maybe it's only simple mistake, in fairness, but I would have expected him to know where he had gone.

EDIT: Beaten to it, thanks Ekphantos .

[denzilite]

Finding it difficult to believe but.......

As a John Higgins fan I would really like to believe what John has said but after watching the video his statement does'nt seem to ring true.

However the video looks like its been edited, perhaps he was threatened in some way. This Mooney guy may well be dodgy and John should pick his friends more carefully.

The News of the World are scumbags and will do anything to sell thier papers, perhaps this isnt as clear as it first appears.

[checkSide]

Anyone who believes this rubbish is living in a dream world.

They are both guilty.

[madman]

Lets not be stupid here. What do you think Higgins was going to say, ' Oh, i hold my hands up, im guilty as charged', dont be silly, he and his manager will come out with various excuses. The next one will be, 'my family was in danger', then 'they are holding my dog to ransom', if you believe his crap you believe anything.

Anybody who knows Higgins knows he is a liar. The match fixing in the round robins, Grand Prix a while ago for instance. And he is now confessing he has never thrown a frame or a match, come on. For whatever reasons, he did throw that and he is a lying cheat im afraid, know matter what crap he is about to spill out now.

[matoski]

Put yourselves in his shoes. What would you do in his place in a hotel room in Kiev accompanied by a bunch of suspicious looking people making you dodge frames for money? I guess you would have **** your pants, that's what you would have done. So don't play heroes commenting rubish from the comfort of your homes! John didn't take any money and maybe he would have reported to the police if those guys tried to contact him again.
I'd like to know what other proffessionals think about this issue. I'm sure all of them would back John up on this issue.

[Gerry Armstrong]

Put yourselves in his shoes. What would you do in his place in a hotel room in Kiev accompanied by a bunch of suspicious looking people making you dodge frames for money? I guess you would have **** your pants, that's what you would have done. So don't play heroes commenting rubish from the comfort of your homes! John didn't take any money and maybe he would have reported to the police if those guys tried to contact him again.
I'd like to know what other proffessionals think about this issue. I'm sure all of them would back John up on this issue.

That sounds reasonably plausible, but the reason I personally would have a hard time believing that is true is, if I put myself in that position the first thing I would have done when I touched down back in the UK is contact the snooker authorities and inform them about what happened.

I haven't seen anywhere in any of the stories run by the various websites, in John's statement or during Mr. Mooney's live appearance on Sky News this afternoon that they did so, and if not why not? Don't they have a duty to report such incidents to the authorities, especially if they played along with the idea at the time so they could get home safe and sound?

[jw147]

lol higgins is some laugh, the russian mafia my backside. he couldnt wait to get a hold of the 300k, he should never be allowed to set foot in a snooker venue again.


If he gets away with this, quinten hann should be allowed back and put straight into the top 32.