Why did the people in the UK support...

[trt]

John Higgins tonight when he won the UK Snooker Championship?

He was charged with bringing the game of snooker into disrepute 6 months ago by considering to take a bribe of £30,000, which was filmed by a Sunday newspaper, yet the crowd applauded him when he won.

[NazNomad]

... because he's a superb player, and errrm ... he won.:-))

[Rasman]

Because he was innocent?

http://www.dailymail....tml?ito=feeds-newsxml

[trt]

Naz,

Yes he won, and yes he is bent, the greedy Scots Bastard.

[NazNomad]

... and if he wasn't innocent, he's no more 'corrupt' that any footballer that blatantly takes £100,000 a week to kick a ball about with their mates.

[trt]

'' John Higgins is 'one of the good guys' despite betting scandal, says Ken Doherty ''

Rasman,
Thats one of his mates, hes not going to agree with the media.

[trt]

I agree Naz,
but they are not cheating the result, Higgins was going too!

[Rasman]

I remember at the time that he was cleared of any wrong doing. The suspension was put in place to pacify any potential media backlash.
It was later suggested -and in many peoples opinion - that the Sun newspaper had stitched him up.
If you were accosted in the streets in Russia and led to a small room as John was and interrogated by who you thought were Mafia hitmen, I wonder what you'd agree to.

[ABerrant]

Higgins was not accosted by Russian Mafia - he met with an undercover News of the World reporter.

An independent tribunal cleared Higgins of match-fixing in September.

http://news.bbc.co.uk...s/snooker/8973869.stm

[Rasman]

I stand corrected on the details ABerrant.
The Sun, News of the World.....
I do recall his defence was that he believed he was dealing with the Mafia.

[trt]

So why would he go there in the first place, he wasn't going to play snooker or for a holiday, he was there with his agent/manager?

[trt]

'' The newspaper alleged that Higgins inquired at the meeting about the best way to conceal the money he would receive for losing frames in four separate matches.

'' In a published transcript, Higgins, who has won 21 ranking titles, said it would be easy to affect the outcome of a frame ''.

And he said on film that he might be able to hide the money in the buying of his Villa in Spain.

[Rasman]

You're taking this out of context in true Red Top tabloid bullsh!t style.
ALLEGED is the key word in your argument trt.

[Sqad]

trt....I agree with your post entirely......for the reasons have given, I was hoping foe a Williams victory.

Yes, I know Higgins paid the price for "unintentional stupidity" but.....................!!!!!

[Ankou]

surely if his crimes were proven, then he would have been banned from the competition?

[jackthehat]

I think most people believe him to have been the victim of entrapment or a sting by a particularly vicious newspaper............I do.

[squarebear]

I thought he was cleared? Great to see him comeback.

[TTG]

I went to bed when Williams was ahead and looking good for the win at 9-7. Typical!

[lankeela]

Well done to him for coming back with a bang.

[Sqad]

squarebear.....no he wasn´t........and was subsequently banned from snooker for 6 months.

[Ankou]

he was cleared of match fixing, his ban was for not telling the wpbsa that he had been entrapped. he served the suspension, returned and won.

gotta admire that.