Ex-world snooker champ banned for breaching betting rules

BRISTOL, England — Former world snooker champion Stuart Bingham was given a six-month ban on Tuesday for breaking rules about betting on matches, including those in which he was playing.

Bingham was found to have placed bets of nearly 36,000 pounds ($47,200) on snooker matches from 2003-15, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) said.

The 41-year-old Bingham admitted to a small amount of betting using two accounts in his own name. But the WPBSA said a disciplinary hearing “found him to be guilty of much greater betting” including “bets on his own matches using an account in his manager’s name.”

With half the ban suspended until October 2018, Bingham — the 2015 world champion — is free to return on Jan. 26. He will miss the UK Championships and the Masters, two of the biggest events on the calendar, but will be back in time for the world championship starting April.

“There is no suggestion whatsoever that Stuart Bingham was doing anything to influence match outcomes or engaged in any corrupt activity,” the WPBSA said, “he was solely betting on snooker.”

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The Associated Press