King loses appeal against snooker match-fixing ban

Snooker player Mark King has lost his appeal against a five-year ban for match-fixing.

King was handed the ban in November 2024 after an independent disciplinary committee found the Englishman guilty of one count of match-fixing and one count of providing inside information on a match.

The former Northern Ireland Open champion was suspended by the sport’s world governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), on 18 March 2023.

That was after suspicious betting was reported on his match against Joe Perry on 13 February that year at the Welsh Open, which King lost 4-0. Perry was not accused of any wrongdoing.

King was ordered to pay over £68,000 in costs and banned from the sport for five years.

King, 51, contested the punishment and his appeal was heard by an independent appeals committee on 8-9 April 2025.

The former world number 11 presented four points to be heard within his appeal, one of which he chose to abandon at the start of the hearing.

He stated that bettors placing large sums on 4-1 and 4-2, as well as the actual result of 4-0, weakened the argument that he had agreed to lose 4-0.

King also argued that his relationship with one of the people connected to the betting was flawed.

Finally, he complained that the disciplinary committee reached a number of wrong conclusions surrounding his form and an injury he was suffering with going into the match against Perry.

“Nowhere in this appeal has it been demonstrated that a factual decision is so wrong it could not have been reached, or an evaluative decision is so wrong that it can be said to be unreasonable,” the independent appeals committee’s final report stated.

It added: “In our view the committee reached reasonable, rational, logical, clear and reasoned conclusions based on all of the evidence which they clearly considered carefully and we find no reason to interfere with the conclusions it reached.”