Ssb - john higgins statement

[plantspotter]

its interesting that nobody has pointed out that this is entrapment and had to be done in kiev because here you would go to jail for doing it!

It's definitely entrapment.

[loopy2]

We should all wait to hear the full facts before we make a judgment.
Boy do I hope he has a good enough explanation for being there at that time.

[Migtsf]

If this is the defense Higgins is going with I suggest he reinforces his statement by immediately going to the police and ask to be submitted to a lie detector.

[Amphor]

and spends his newly-earned 300k on cheating on polygraph. The use of it?
Off-topic: Wasn't it the Sun, who trapped similarly John Terrys father. Did some of them go to jail?

[noel]

What would a frame look like if both players were played to lose it?

Like me and my mate after a few pints.
=o\

Noel

[Migtsf]

and spends his newly-earned 300k on cheating on polygraph. The use of it?

He didn't actually earn it, did he?

If he is as innocent as he says he is, he would want to submit to a lie detector, if anything to have something else on his side other than his word.

[FayS]

Both Pat Mooney and John say he's never thrown a ball. Listen to this broadcast made yesterday morning on bbc radio scotland. Listen to minute 6 to 7.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00s7g61

Welcome any comments

[hegeland]

You mean when he lost 3-1 against friend and fellow scot Alan McManus who needed a win to progress from the round robin, back at the 2006 grand prix? Yeah, there were quite strong rumors about that match but impossible to prove anything as no money changed hands that time (as far I know).

[CoolBlue]

Like me and my mate after a few pints.
=o\

Noel

lmfao

[jb134]

Both Pat Mooney and John say he's never thrown a ball. Listen to this broadcast made yesterday morning on bbc radio scotland. Listen to minute 6 to 7.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00s7g61

Welcome any comments

Can't get radio Scotland on the mobile player, just watched dr who tho so not all bad news.

[gettingbetter]

I don't like hearing things like this about my favourite snooker player and prior to this incident, probably the best ambassador of the game. I'll go along with innocent until proven guilty. But as a cricket fan too, thoughts of Hansie Cronje keep coming to me.

[pottheredandscrewback]

What about these questions

Here is some things that i am sure the enquiry will be asking and considering...

1) If the meeting was legitimate as Mooney and Higgins say, why was it set up to take place during one of the most busiest times of the snooker schedule. Surely it could have taken place next week or even a week or two after the championships, we are at the end of the season after all.

2) If it was arranged before hand by Mooney that John Higgins would be in attendance at the meeting in Kiev, how could Mooney guarantee Higgins would be there on Friday? When was Higgins ticket purchased for the flight to Kiev. If Higgins didn't throw the davis match for money, maybe he threw it to guarantee he could be in Kiev on Friday? If that was the case, the whole davis adoration week would be made to look a mockery and poor davis would feel humiliated by Higgins behaviour...

3) If the meeting was set up by mooney only after Higgins was beat by Davis, what sort of due diligence is that, going to meet with a businessman in Eastern Europe within just a few days of contact? I read somewhere mooney said "Their website looked legitimate..." surely a man on the board of snooker with his experience would want more guarantees than just a website before meeting a high level person?

4) Did Mooney tell Hearn he was going on this trip beforehand?

I am sure there are many more questions, but none of this adds up...

[goldengirl]

I do so hope that John's defence is true - not for John's sake but for the sake of snooker - but what sort of manager would put his player in such a situation? If they were trying for sponsorship for the World Series would they not meet in more public surroundings and deal with it through local snooker Associations? Although I believe Pat Mooney has said that the people they were meeting did seem to have the proper credentials - would they have proof of the checks they did before meeting these people?

[stewpot01]

Here is some things that i am sure the enquiry will be asking and considering...

1) If the meeting was legitimate as Mooney and Higgins say, why was it set up to take place during one of the most busiest times of the snooker schedule. Surely it could have taken place next week or even a week or two after the championships, we are at the end of the season after all.

2) If it was arranged before hand by Mooney that John Higgins would be in attendance at the meeting in Kiev, how could Mooney guarantee Higgins would be there on Friday? When was Higgins ticket purchased for the flight to Kiev. If Higgins didn't throw the davis match for money, maybe he threw it to guarantee he could be in Kiev on Friday? If that was the case, the whole davis adoration week would be made to look a mockery and poor davis would feel humiliated by Higgins behaviour...

3) If the meeting was set up by mooney only after Higgins was beat by Davis, what sort of due diligence is that, going to meet with a businessman in Eastern Europe within just a few days of contact? I read somewhere mooney said "Their website looked legitimate..." surely a man on the board of snooker with his experience would want more guarantees than just a website before meeting a high level person?

4) Did Mooney tell Hearn he was going on this trip beforehand?

I am sure there are many more questions, but none of this adds up...

I agree on all counts, and IF he did feel there was something wrong, then why the hell did he not go to Barry Hearn on his return to the UK? He would have recieved Hearn's full backing I am sure.

On your 2nd point, I thought of that game as soon as I read about just when the meeting took place. The red over the centre pocket that he would normally pot with his eyes closed 999 times in a 1000 that ultimately put the nail in the coffin now looks more suspicious than ever, along with some other inexplicable misses.
I feel sorry for Steve Davis in that situation, for he, IMO has been a true ambassador for snooker for years now and any outcome of wrong doings by Higgins would tarnish one of Steve's greatest wins.

I have watched the video, and despite some people trying to defend Higgins with allegations of video editing and him been 'worried', to me I don't see anything to back uip his claims.

Still, innocent until proven, but I don't like what I saw and there are other factors that I think make it look even more dodgy.

Snooker could lose a hell of a lot more than anything out of this, with the ultimate been Hearn walking away, as I would not miss Higgins if he was banned, if Hearn did turn his back it could spell the end for the game.

[White knows best]

I am no fan of the gutter journalism of these newspapers but if what they are saying is true then his manager should have sussed out that this was a set-up. The fact that they went along with the whole thing may indicate that this sort of thing is seen as normal in the game, and that is a scary thought.