Ronnie O'Sullivan was questioned over match-fixing snooker star who served 12-year ban

chief Barry Hearn called on to explain his comments regarding Stephen Lee, the former world No. 5 who served a 12-year ban for match-fixing.

Lee was found guilty of seven counts of fixing matches between 2008 and 2009 in what officials called "the worst case of snooker corruption we've seen". He had been slapped with, at the time, the longest punishment in the sport's history.

That suspension is now over and Lee, 50, via Q Tour, Q School, or the WSF Championship. Though he has outstanding fines to pay to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), which must be settled before any attempts to play again.

The WPBSA confirmed in a statement to Express Sport: "Stephen Lee would need to reach a satisfactory agreement with the WPBSA over the settlement of his outstanding costs before he could return to compete at WPBSA/WST events."

In 2013, the same year Lee was banned, O'Sullivan claimed that he had "heard" about more players participating in match-fixing. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) which is still visible on his account, the Rocket wrote: "I've heard there's many more players who throw snooker matches .. I suppose Steve Lee was just caught out."

He later added that "plenty of people have got loads to hide" and admitted that he would likely be fined for his comments, because "they don't like you doing that, like to keep things under the carpet."

Matchroom Sport president and snooker supremo Hearn immediately questioned O'Sullivan about his comments, saying: "If he has names and he knows of incidences he has an obligation and a duty to report them, and failure to do so will put him in breach of his player's contract.

"World Snooker will be writing to Ronnie to say that under his player's contract it is his responsibility to report any incidences he's aware of and failure to do so would lay him open to a charge of bringing the game into disrepute.

"There's no point in making vague announcements, if he knows something he has a responsibility to be specific and World Snooker will be writing to him on that basis.

"I don't know what's behind his tweets. Sometimes there's nothing behind them and sometimes there is. It's for him to tell us. He's either got to say, 'actually I don't know anything', or if he knows something then he has a responsibility to tell us and if he doesn't tell us then he could be brought into disrepute."

In response, O'Sullivan clarified that he was not aware of any players on the World Snooker Tour participating in similar activities to Lee.

"I would like to clarify the comments that I made on Twitter 17th September as they were an instant reaction to an issue which I feel strongly about, namely the integrity of my sport," O'Sullivan said.

"The news about Stephen Lee's match-fixing case was eye-opening to all players on the circuit, and sends out a clear message to any would-be cheats. I fully support this decision and commend the WPBSA for taking positive action in this case.

"If I were aware of match-fixing, I understand that it would be up to me to report any fears to the Association. I have no intention of undermining the integrity of the sport that I love and enjoy participating in so much and firmly believe that my tweets were taken out of context."