Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/855205
maltatoday SUNDAY, 30 JULY 2017 Sport 52 SNOOKER Joe Perry receives suspended ban after betting rules breach JOE Perry has been fined and handed a suspended three- month ban from snooker after the former World Champion- ship semi-finalist admitted breaching betting rules. The 42-year-old Englishman, who sits 22nd in the world rank- ings, placed almost 200 bets during a period from 2009 to 2013, using five different ac- counts registered in his name. He has been ordered to pay £2,500 by the World Profession- al Billiards and Snooker Asso- ciation (WPBSA), but the ban is suspended until after next year's World Championship. Importantly, Perry did not bet on any matches in which he played, and the prospect of a long punishment, or even a lifetime ban, was dismissed by investigators given there was no element of match-fixing. A statement from the WPBSA said: "After a hearing before the WPBSA disciplinary committee that took place on 18th July 2017 Joe Perry admitted that between 2009 and 2013 he had breached the WPBSA members' rules by placing bets on matches using five different betting accounts in his own name. "The facts of the case are that between 23rd September 2009 and 3rd June 2013 Mr Perry placed 193 bets on snooker with 5 different online betting opera- tors. None of these bets involved his own matches, but it did in- clude bets on matches in tourna- ments Mr Perry competed in. "The bets in question were rel- atively small in value to a total of £2,806.49 over the four-year period where he made an overall profit of £832.09. There was one account where the betting could not be quantified due to a lack of data." Snooker players are not al- lowed to place any bets on the sport, whether or not they are directly involved. The WPBSA statement added: "There is no suggestion what- soever that Mr Perry was doing anything to inf luence match outcomes or engaged in any cor- rupt activity, he was solely bet- ting on snooker. "He was suspended from play- ing in WPBSA sanctioned events for a period of three months. This suspension is suspended in full until after the 2018 World Championships. He was ordered to pay a fine of £2,500." According to the governing body's findings, which saw Perry interviewed and evidence exam- ined, the Cambridgeshire pro- fessional placed the bets "purely out of boredom or distraction" and has since given up gambling. Perry reached the Crucible fi- nal four in 2008, losing to Ali Carter, and won his biggest title when defeating Mark Williams at the 2015 Players Champion- ship Grand Final in Thailand. Joe Perry