Nearly two months on and it would seem that the John Higgins saga is as far away from its conclusion as it has ever been. While there has (rightly), been little comment from the governing body recently however, Sporting Intelligence, the website that has for me carried the most interesting articles on the story to date, has today published the results of its most recent investigation. Click here to view the story.
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8 comments
snookerbacker says:
June 19, 2010 at 5:52 pm (UTC 0 )
While I agree Matt that this is a well researched article and very good and thorough journalism, what does it actually change in terms of the story? If Higgins had said initially that ‘I didn’t say that at that time’ rather than the silly Mafia excuse then I’d say it has some credence. He should also have told Barry Hearn about the meeting the minute he got back if ‘he was in fear for his life’. All in all, it isn’t a massive surprise that the NOTW have used underhand tactics, but there are certain things on that tape that I’ll find extremely difficult to forget. He’s a stupid man, a greedy man and he has ruined his career after being a snooker player in my opinion. I feel very sorry for his fans but not for him, unlike (I get a feeling) a lot of people involved closely in the game who are desperate to believe he is totally innocent.
matt2745 says:
June 19, 2010 at 5:58 pm (UTC 0 )
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it does actually change anything, although it is nevertheless interesting in any case.
I’ve got my personal view on the whole affair and speculate on it for a while, but think it wiser not to get into that on here!
snookerbacker says:
June 19, 2010 at 6:10 pm (UTC 0 )
You’re very wise unlike me!
I just hope it doesn’t do long term damage to the sport. I have already encountered a lot of people who after reading the story and knowing little or nothing about the sport have dismissed it as being ‘rigged’. Pretty depressing stuff.
matt2745 says:
June 19, 2010 at 6:15 pm (UTC 0 )
That’s the worst thing, even if Higgins were to be totally exonerated and cleared of any wrongdoing, for many casual observers the damage will have already been done.
In fact when I got home from the final, the first thing my mum said to me was “I’ve just read that it was all fixed, have you just wasted all your money for the last two weeks?”.
snookerbacker says:
June 19, 2010 at 6:31 pm (UTC 0 )
I can’t remember being as upset about anything relating to snooker since Jimmy lost the 84 final, and believe me I was inconsolable then. It just felt like a kick in the guts, like everything you believed to be above all that kind of thing had been shattered. Your Mum’s question is very familiar to me. I’d be interested in how you answered her!
matt2745 says:
June 19, 2010 at 6:38 pm (UTC 0 )
“Don’t be daft, of course not” or words to that effect I think!
It really was quite a night as the story broke, the first I heard of it was having just watched a cracking session between Dott/Selby, checking my phone whilst sat in my Crucible seat and seeing a text messages outlining the details. The initial reaction of myself and others was “surely not” but then as we went to the pub and looked on a laptop at the story and the video…really quite surreal.
The shocking thing isn’t what is being alleged, it’s almost purely the fact that it is Higgins. The absolute definition of “oh but he’s not the type” but…
snookerbacker says:
June 19, 2010 at 6:51 pm (UTC 0 )
Totally agree, it’s who it was, not what it was. If you feel like emailing me at any point by the way..
Claus Christensen says:
June 22, 2010 at 6:33 pm (UTC 0 )
It is true that the very thing that has hurt John the most is his own statement. Whatever the findings are and however NotW messed with the footage, John said some fairly incriminating stuff after the story broke.
I can’t wait for the conclusion.