 |
| Getty Images |
Ronnie O'Sullivan says he rejected a £20,000 offer to fix a snooker match. The five-time world champion said a proposal concerning a Premier League fixture was made by somebody he knew about 10 years ago.
"Someone rang me and said he'd like to meet me over in the forest and have a walk through the woods," O'Sullivan, 37, wrote in his new autobiography.
"What they were offering, 20 grand," he added, "I could get for a couple of nights' work."
O'Sullivan, who won his fifth world title in May after taking a six-month break from the sport, said the meeting - in Epping Forest, Essex - lasted about 15 minutes.
"If anyone could get away with it, I could. I could just play one-handed, or left-handed or just put a towel over my head and pretend I was going nuts. But it's not something I would or could do. I couldn't live with myself; I'd feel that was robbing somebody."
The revelation comes less than a month after former world top-five player Stephen Lee was handed a 12-year ban after being found guilty of seven match-fixing charges.
A response to O'Sullivan's comments is being considered by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
In an interview with BBC Sport, the player was asked whether he had ever considered throwing a match.
"I can't do it. I enjoy playing - snooker's given me a great life.," he said.
"It's not just about the money. You put all of that on the line. Without snooker you'd lose friends and family.
"You're not just taking the money, but jeopardising relationships with people, the sport, and the opportunity to embrace great things that being a professional snooker player can give you."
O'Sullivan recently backtracked on a claim he made that Lee was not the only player guilty of match-fixing.
The Essex player, nicknamed 'The Rocket', had originally tweeted: "I've heard there's many more players who throw snooker matches.
"I suppose Steve Lee was just caught out.
"No need to worry if you got nothing to hide. But plenty of people have got loads to hide. That's why there is no free speech. They're hiding."
World Snooker boss Barry Hearn reacted by stating O'Sullivan's comments were "unacceptable and damaging".
O'Sullivan later said he had "no concrete evidence of match-fixing in snooker," but hinted players were aware of who might be involved.
No comments:
Post a Comment