Ssb - john higgins statement

[Bigmeek]

pottheredandscrewback Good questions. I've been wondering about these things as well. Just read the article about Mooney meeting the "Kiev folk" in an Edinburgh hotel a month ago. Something very fishy going on and I can't quite make sense of the chronology of it all. Surely Higgins would not give up the chance of being world champion and all the prize money to go to Kiev? Sensible thing to do is win the world and then go to Kiev.

[wildJONESEYE]

Yes, but -



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 .

jesus christ does it matter if he was in russia,ukkraine or a small caffe in sheffield thats not the issue and never will be the issue.

[darrus]

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.

Yesterday in the evening session Graeme Dott almost missed the straight red to the middle in exactly the same way - it almost jumped out of the pocket because of the speed, but stayed in.
Any pot is missable when you're under pressure.

[wildJONESEYE]

Yesterday in the evening session Graeme Dott almost missed the straight red to the middle in exactly the same way - it almost jumped out of the pocket because of the speed, but stayed in.
Any pot is missable when you're under pressure.

you know what mate reading stuff like you just comented on i think the only thing John can do now is retire because some will always question his integrity even if he is found not guilty.

they will be convcinced its brushed under the carpet etc.

[pottheredandscrewback]

of course another theory could be that mooney resented hearnes 51% share of the WPBSA and thought that if as a rival promoter and minority shareholder he couldnt have a good cut then no-one was going to have a cut. Perhaps mooney organised the sting to take place with the NOTW to destroy snooker, and in doing so set up higgins too.

[ore]

As others suggested, if he really felt that he had to "play along" with the people he was dealing with, then he certainly would have reported this incident to the WPBSA and other authorities and this story would have been dead in the water.

Right, and risk the revenge of mafia!

[bonoman1970]

Having watched the video a couple of times I will be amazed if Higgins ever plays at the crucible ect ever again.
I cannot see how there is any case for him, he looks as guilty as sin, the big question is ,if his story was true why on earth wouldnt they have rang Barry Hearn straight up on getting back to tell him and clear their names?
It looks all over for Higgins ,would have more respect if he had just come out and held his hands up.
its just a sorry shame for snooker.

[ore]

you know what mate reading stuff like you just comented on i think the only thing John can do now is retire because some will always question his integrity even if he is found not guilty.

they will be convcinced its brushed under the carpet etc.

you know wild this sounds just so unfair - publish this on anyone, and even if they're found not guilty, their career is doomed forever.
unfair but that's the way it would be.
what a power of press!

wonder how many people are detered now to ever put a bet on snooker again.

in case this thing is denied, not only higgins & mooney should sue the paper, and not only WS, but betting agencies too, for 'moral' damage.

[jb134]

It is unfair, agreed, imagine the pressure of knowing every bad ball you miss for the rest of your career will be called into question.

How could you possibly play?

[stewpot01]

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.

Spot on. Makes you wonder that if this kind of things does happen, and there is nothing to prove/disprove eiter way, then it makes you wonder just how long.

Snooker has always had a sleazy image up to the early TV era and through the 80's, but now it seems to be returning to be surrounded by that kind of thing once again. I suppose that the TV coverage can shoulder some of the finger pointing with the game taken into homes, clubs and bars worldwide, then like any other sport with the same coverage it becomes more vulnerable to dodgy dealings.
But when one of the sports leading players is embroiled in these kind of allegations then it's time for some serious house cleaning. I hope that when the players meet with Barry Hearn this week that they ratify his proposals and let him get his teeth into sorting the game out and put it back into some kind of shape.
Mud sticks and the game will take some time to recover fom this, even if Higgins is proved innocent and if he is guilty, then the consequences could be unthinkable with the games' image possibly damaged for many years to come.

[ore]

of course another theory could be that mooney resented hearnes 51% share of the WPBSA and thought that if as a rival promoter and minority shareholder he couldnt have a good cut then no-one was going to have a cut. Perhaps mooney organised the sting to take place with the NOTW to destroy snooker, and in doing so set up higgins too.

now that would be quite some crime of passion



something to back up another conspiracy theory that this was made to take mooney out, or strengthen hearn's position to take over, including what a long-sighted decision was to bring in ex police officer to the board (below).
though I woudn't believe WSS or mooney would have been that dangerous of a competitor to hearn. this scandal is just bad for anyone involved in snooker.

anyone know if hearn is not linked to NOTW/the sun?
or anyone else related to snooker?

where would NOTW get info about the player(s) interested in match fixing?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010...nooker-scandal

"As a player it's the darkest day," said Steve Davis. "Players are walking about in a daze. What a terrible wake-up call. It's time to cut out this cancer, pardon the phrase, at its root and sweep it clean. It's vital someone is in charge with a firm hand."

As his eyes began to fill up and his lip to tremble, the six-time world champion added: "Barry [Hearn] is the only person to drag this game out of the mire. If Barry doesn't stay on as chairman, I'll have to consider my own future in the game.""

"The WPBSA's investigation will be entrusted to David Douglas, a former Metropolitan Police detective chief inspector, who Hearn last month invited to join the board to take responsibility for disciplinary matters and "maintain the integrity of the game necessary in today's sporting market."

[stewpot01]

Yesterday in the evening session Graeme Dott almost missed the straight red to the middle in exactly the same way - it almost jumped out of the pocket because of the speed, but stayed in.
Any pot is missable when you're under pressure.

I think you will find that Higgins missed more than that ONE shot(Which was NOTplayed at speed- which game were you watching) in that game and ones he would normally pot, and IF a player with his big match experience cannot handle the pressure then we might as well all give up the game.
Higgins was quietly making excuses even breore the tournament started about been 'Out of sorts' and the like. Stop trying to make him look a saint.

[ore]

Surely Higgins would not give up the chance of being world champion and all the prize money to go to Kiev?

I don't get questioning of flying/ timing of flying to Kiev thing at all.
It's not like Eastern Europe in another planet that you need to plan the trip there a few months in advance. Or that you wouldn't be able to change flights depending on how one's matches go in the WC.

And some WSS events might have taken taken place before this summer maybe... Or otherwise, it could be quite some process to establish connections find sponsors arrange logistics etc in order to organise such an event in another country.

Well, we might not find out anymore what were future WSS plans.

[ore]

I think you will find that Higgins missed more than that ONE shot(Which was NOTplayed at speed- which game were you watching) in that game and ones he would normally pot, and IF a player with his big match experience cannot handle the pressure then we might as well all give up the game.
Higgins was quietly making excuses even breore the tournament started about been 'Out of sorts' and the like. Stop trying to make him look a saint.

C'mon all of the favorites have ups and downs in form, do you think if not for deliberate missing of the pots, the same favorites would keep on winning everything like 5 years in row non-stop?
And everyone can't win, there's only 1 winner of the tournament, and 1 winner in the match, all others are losers.

Higgins was somewhat out of sorts in China already.

[pottheredandscrewback]

the timing issue may prove critical actually, especially as it seems that Mooney set up these meetings before the championship (the NOTW are claiming that there were previous meetings before the Kiev meeting). Would mooney have gone on his own if higgins beat davis and was unavailable?

Also feel for dotty who has effectively lost his manager at a time when he should have had his full support...