24.2.13

JOGIA MAKES FIX CLAIMS

Joe Jogia has made a series of allegations concerning match fixing in snooker in an interview with the Sunday Mirror.

Jogia was banned for two years following an investigation into unusual betting patterns surrounding his match against Matt Selt in the Shootout last year.

He has since been contacting journalists seeking payment for a story detailing his claims about historic corruption in the game. The Sunday Mirror does not state how much Jogia received for the interview.


Jogia effectively admits breaching WPBSA rules on failing to report approaches to fix matches. The governing body confirms he did not pass on any information about match fixing to them.

But this is not to say his claims should be dismissed. Snooker, like any other sport but no more than any other sport, has suffered from low level fixing and cheating, usually in matches ‘below the radar’ in qualifiers and lesser tournaments.

Players who often haven’t earned much money are particularly susceptible to match fixing.

The rise of internet betting makes all sports vulnerable to corruption. It is only relatively recently that snooker has taken the problem seriously enough.

Jogia said: “You know that the people who put the bets on and hang around with these players are not nice people.

He is certainly right about this. On the periphery of the game there have been many dodgy characters down the years who have got their claws into players, often under the guise of ‘manager’. Players have historically been spectacularly bad at seeing through these people.

World Snooker should introduce proper licensing of managers and stop allowing players and others to just sign in anyone they like at tournament venues.

Players know the difference between right and wrong. They know cheating is wrong. But many of them are extremely naive and easily manipulated, usually by people in which they have put misplaced trust.

The bedrock of any sport is its integrity. There isn’t a sport in the world that is 100% clean but that does not mean that each of them should not aspire to be clean.

Snooker faces the same challenges as football, cricket and others when it comes to organised gambling rings, particularly in countries from which it is difficult to obtain sufficient information to make a case.

In Nigel Mawer, World Snooker has someone determined to both root out corruption and punish the offenders.

As Joe Jogia can testify.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

No great surprise but very sad none the less.
There will be several players feeling pretty uneasy today.

kildare cueman said...

It was only a matter of time before Jogia cashed in on his predicament. Wouldn't say he got much, without naming anyone.

Its a pity though, that both Lee and himself are very watchable players. Why couldn't it have been Joyce and Lawlor or some other pair of bores.

As for the 3 players at the meeting, I cant imagine their identity being shielded too long. Pub talk will oust them eventually I'm sure.

Anonymous said...

Substantiates the theory that lower ranked players have been sacrificed in an attempt to protect the integrity of the game.
JH had a VERY lucky escape !

Anonymous said...

Kildare - what has being "very watchable" got anything to do with match fixing? So you'd prefer to watch bent snooker would you over clean players like Rod Lawler, who has been a model pro for 20 years? Re-read your post and retract it - you should be ashamed of yourself.

Anonymous said...

he said a player who has retired i hope it isnt who i think?i just could not imagine that as who has retired recently only 1 player

Anonymous said...

Higgins should have had a much longer ban. If he wasn't who he was, he would have had at least what Jogia had. Video evidence doesn't lie, he said those things and his only defence can be that 'he was terrified' and didn't mean it. Didn't look terrified to me when talking about a lump sum payment being put into a small mortage in Spain.

wild said...

Joe Jogia is a idiot.

hes hitting out because of a check book.

He tries to come over as a whiter than white character while accusing others.

i hope names will be named and then the book thrown at them or Jogia will get Sued big time.

kildare cueman said...

2.04, You are the one that misread the post. My point is, its a pity that two watchable players got involved, not that they got caught.

Anonymous said...

did jimmy michie retire?

Anonymous said...

A handful retired last season. However, anyone only vaguely familiar with snooker is going to think "Hendry" aren't they? If I were Hendry I'd threaten the Mirror with legal action unless they clarify it wasn't him.

Anonymous said...

The Mirror are all wretch and no vomit.
They need tell us what Jogia told them.

Anonymous said...

A very sinister tactic by the Sunday Mirror. Propagating the possibility it could be Hendry by highlighting a player 'who retired last year'.
Time to s**t or get off the pot.
Put some meat on the bones of this story or put it to bed.

Anonymous said...

@13:13

That might make things worse.

If a player went out and specifically said 'I didn't fix my last match' when he wasn't outright accused, I'd be slightly suspicious.

Anonymous said...

no, I wouldn't think theyd think that.

if they were only vaguely familiar with snooker and had half a brain theyd think....I wonder who else retired.