12 year Suspension for Lee and 40k fine

[ferret]

Article Source on The Snooker Blog

Stephen Lee has been banned for 12 years and has to pay 40k costs, full statement from The WPBSA below;   After a more .....

[Mr Snooker]

12 Years that is a long time I cannot see him getting back into snooker, does this mean he will be removed from the ranking list, like Joe Jogia was or will he keep his ranking points and place and just slide down the rankings and lose points like Stephen Hendry as done since he announced his retirement from snooker, also will they bring a new player in to replace him next season if he remains in the top 64 of the rankings, if so how will world snooker go about choosing his replacment

[sberry]

He will be removed as he cannot play (once the appeal process is complete) whereas Mr Hendry can play should he have a change of heart.

[DeanH]

The did not remove Joe Jogia, he slid slowly down the listings till off the bottom, not that he had that many points anyway

[gazza147]

I also cannot see him playing snooker again as 12yrs is long time away from Professional Tournament Play, He may go down the 8 Ball or 9 Ball Pool Route.

What a shame as he has one of the nicest Touches in the game! But what i will say is Yes they should be Punished but its Not only Him doing this as this has been going on for yrs in Most sports and Especially Snooker where some have good away very Lightly in my Opinion.

[luke-h]

To be completely honest if he doesn't change his lifestyle his ban will out live him. It's a shame as even though he's a cheat he was still a great asset to snooker

[SouthPaw]

If I'm being honest i don't have any sympathy for him at all, and he shouldn't be allowed to play any other cue sport for money either, greed was his downfall!

[Mr Snooker]

news story in pictures here http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/snooker/24223268

[jrc750]

news story in pictures here http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/snooker/24223268

Mentions not having a lawyer to help him, BUT no mention that he sacked 3 (was it) along the way
Cannot believe a word he says tbh

[Fatboy]

i think there is lots more going on than is in the media.

If you might recall back about 4-5 years ago he gained 3-4 stone in the off season, opiates can cause that. He might have developed a problem with that,

its a sad thing, but in all sport-bet the business not the sport. boxing is fixed more than any sport. shame. amateur level events you will see honest play. when there is money there will be corruption, period.

[Mal]

Not much of an update, but seems he is still looking to appeal and has a 'story' on hold.
http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news..._ban_response/

[sberry]

it's what he would say, he is clearly in denial, should imagine there is a time limit for appeals and wouldn't be surprised if that expires and he then says "damn, I would have appealed but..."

[Achamian]

Stephen Lee said: “I’m still going to be doing the statement, but it’s with my lawyers and the main story has been held.”

He sacked three different lawyers and represented himself at the hearing. And now he's employed another lawyer for an appeal?

He must be living in cloud cuckoo land. He hung himself with his own mouth in that hearing, and made it virtually impossible for him to win any kind of appeal.

[daffie]

I won't pretend to be an expert on body language or psychology, however when I look at the vid of Stephen with him constantly looking away (averting eye contact with the camera/reporter) when answering questions, with him clearly looking/searching to come up with the right answers, together with his body language, it all screams guilty to me. I have always kinda thought or in any case at least had the hope he would be found not guilty and the Board maybe had taken a rash decision to suspend Stephen upfront. Now I'm not so sure anymore. What a shame...a great player.

[itsnoteasy]

I don't know enough to pass a judgement on the case, but I'm interested in the build up to the decision, I think the die was cast the minute he was suspended, what other decision could they have come to without leaving themselves open to being sued for loss of earnings or some such claim, no matter the evidence I think a guilty verdict was guaranteed.