The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has summoned Irish amateur snooker player John Sutton to answer charges that he breached its rules on betting during his 24 September 2014 International Championship match against Jamie Burnett. The date and venue of the formal hearing have yet to be confirmed.

“John Sutton is not a WPBSA member or current tour card holder”, said Jason Ferguson, Chairman of the WPBSA in a statement. “He is an amateur player who gained access to some events through our open qualifying structure. He was bound by the WPBSA Rules as a condition of accepting his invitation to play in this event. Under our policy for the global governance of the sport we treat any potential breach of our betting rules very seriously and I have taken the decision to suspend John Sutton from competition. This suspension will remain in place until the conclusion of the hearing or hearings and the determination of this matter.”

Following an investigation in which the WPBSA partnered with the International Centre for Sports Security (ICSS) and the British Gambling Commission’s Sports Betting and Integrity Unit (SBIU), it is alleged that Sutton broke parts of Section 2 – Betting Rules of the WPBSA Members Rules and Regulations. These prohibit attempts to fix a match or any part of it (2.1.2.1) and prevent misuse of inside information (2.1.3).