World Snooker are to launch a formal investigation in the betting controversy surrounding Jamie Burnett's defeat to Stephen Maguire.
Burnett defeat under investigation
World Snooker are to launch a formal investigation into the betting controversy surrounding Jamie Burnett's defeat to Stephen Maguire at the Maplin UK Championship in Telford.
A flurry of wagers were placed on a 9-3 scoreline in Maguire's favour - the margin by which the Scotsman eventually won the contest.
However, what made matters look worse for Burnett was that he missed a black which would have made the frame score 8-4, and therefore remove any concerns about the result.
Burnett has subsequently denied any wrongdoing, but WPBSA have moved to try and get to the bottom of the allegation.
Call
A statement from WPBSA read: "At approximately 4.50pm on Friday 12 December, the WPBSA received a telephone call from a bookmaker, reporting an unusual pattern of bets on Stephen Maguire to beat Jamie Burnett by a frame score of 9-3 in a match due to take place on Sunday, 14 December.
"The WPBSA immediately notified its other bookmaker contacts, so that the bookmakers could alert the industry and obtain feedback in relation to bets placed on the match.
"It also arranged for World Snooker officials to attend and observe the match in question, and secured tapes of the match afterwards for further study.
"Now that the match has been played, the WPBSA will move forward with a formal investigation.
"It has already instructed specialist external legal counsel to assist it in pursuing the investigation robustly and efficiently, so as to protect the integrity of the sport while at the same time respecting its obligation to treat those being investigated fairly."
