The investigation into match-fixing in snooker is nearing an end but still some weeks from a conclusion, says WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson.
10 players are currently suspended from World Snooker Tour events, with the investigation beginning in October and the initial suspension of Liang Wenbo.
Since then Lu Ning, Li Hang, Zhao Jianbo, Bai Langning and Chang Bingyu, Yan Bingtao, Chen Zifan, Zhao Xintong and Zhang Jiankang have all been suspended until the investigation is completed.
None of the players have been charged with anything yet, but Ferguson says the investigation will be completed within two weeks and any charges will be levied very soon after that.
However, it may then be ‘a month or so’ after that point until a conclusion is reached as an independent tribunal will come to a verdict on those charges.
‘I think we’re one-two weeks away from the completion of that inquiry,’ Ferguson told the BBC. ‘It won’t take long to assess whether there are charges to be levied against any of those players after that.
‘Then we will establish an independent tribunal, which will be a properly formulated sports tribunal and it will be that tribunal which stands independently to judge this. That may all take another month or so.
‘There’s never a good time for this, but we’re really pushing this process every day.
‘We’ve been on this since October, day in day out, trying to push it and push it. New things have come to light that we’ve had to look at, but we won’t be too much longer.’
Ferguson also appeared on Eurosport to address the matter of the investigation, saying: ‘It’s at a very mature stage. We’re probably only a week or two away from understanding whether charges will be pressed or not.’
MORE : Snooker match-fixers should be ‘gone forever’ from the sport, says Dave Gilbert
MORE : Match-fixing a ‘cancer in any sport,’ says Ken Doherty who is shocked and saddened by snooker scandal
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