WPBSA set upplayers’ hotline

World Snooker made available a confidential hotline to report suspicious activities to players as from this weekend as they aim to tackle corruption in the sport.

The WPBSA held a meeting with its member players at the European Tour Championship event in Germany to brief them on the initiative, which has been set up with the help of the newly-formed Integrity Unit.

The move comes after former no.1 John Higgins was found guilty of failing to report an illegal approach to lose frames following the undercover News of the World sting during the World Championship in April.

Higgins returned to action for the first time after his subsequent ban on Friday and claimed a 4-2 success against Joe Jogia.

“It is a hotline and e-mail service for the players that is anonymous or otherwise,” WPBSA disciplinary chief David Douglas said.

“The players can use it to report suspicious activities or to inquire about information about the rules and regulations. It is a case of the WPBSA being pro-active and making sure we are not arrogant to think that corruption is not a part, or could not be a part, of the sport.”

Douglas said the WPBSA Integrity Unit would be tasked with pooling the information into a database, which they will use in consultation with gambling associations and betting exchanges.

“It is a secure database of information. It is an important piece of intelligence that we can utilise,” he said.