Northern Irishman Mark Allen could be banned from snooker for three months after his “cheating” row with Hong Kong star Marco Fu overshadowed the initial stages of the UK Championship.

Allen, the world no. 8, is in trouble after repeating allegations he first made during the World Champion-ship in Sheffield, in April.

Following his first-round defeat to China’s Cao Yupeng at the world event, Allen accused his conqueror of playing a banned push shot.

He also named Fu as a player he believed to have broken the rules in the past.

Fu, 34, has denied all allegations of cheating and took out his frustrations on Sunday by beating last year’s UK runner-up Allen 6-3 in their first-round clash.

“It was just another match, we’ve both moved on. People make mistakes and I make mistakes like anyone else. It’s just one of those things,” Allen said after his loss.

But a WPBSA spokesman said of Allen’s comments made on November 28: “His comments have been looked at and he has been asked to explain what he said.”

Allen was handed a six-month suspended sentence for his remarks about Cao.

“It was unfair of me to label all Chinese players as cheats but dishonesty in snooker is something that needs to be stamped out,” Allen said.

“I’d never said anything about Marco as a person. Obviously people make mistakes on the table.

“But aside from that, Marco is a great snooker player.”