World Snooker were awaiting further developments yesterday following Stephen Lee's arrest after a police investigation into suspicious betting patterns.
The 35-year-old was arrested by West Midlands Police on Thursday on suspicion of cheating following a joint operation involving the police force and the Gambling Com-mission.
Lee, from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, was released on bail on Friday afternoon after being questioned and was not charged with any offence.
It is understood World Snooker, the commercial arm of governing body the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, were unaware of the circumstances that led to the arrest of Lee.
They are now awaiting further developments with their own investigation into the matter to be held open.
"We are aware of the recent news articles concerning match-fixing and are awaiting further reports," read a World Snooker statement.
"In instances where the Gambling Commission commences an in-vestigation into a match, the WPBSA work together with the Commission to assist in their enquiries and the WPBSA will hold their own investigation open pending the conclusion.
"However, neither the Commission nor the WPBSA will release information surrounding a betting matter while an investigation is ongoing."
The arrest was made under section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005, which states: "A person commits an offence if he (a) cheats at gambling, or (b) does anything for the purpose of enabling or assisting another person to cheat at gambling."
Lee is, however, confident he will not be charged following the investigation.
A statement from On Q Promotions, Lee's management company, read:
"Stephen Lee was taken to a West Midlands Police station for questioning on Thursday, February 11.
"Stephen co-operated fully with the police inquiry and was released without charge.
"He does not expect any charge to be made and denies any involvement with cheating or betting irregularities.
"Stephen is now concentrating on practising hard to achieve qualification for the World Championship and to fulfil all of his exhibition commitments."
Lee has won four ranking tournaments in a professional career that began in 1992 and also reached the World Championship semi-finals in 2003.
Lee, a father of four children, was once ranked fifth in the world but fell to 25th place at the end of last season. He is currently 23rd in the provisional rankings for 2010-11 and will not appear at the China Open next month after losing in qualifying.
Lee must also go through the qualifying process for the World Championship.