Jamie Burnett Denies Wrongdoing in Gambling Scandal
(Press Association) Jamie Burnett has denied any wrongdoing after being placed at the centre of a betting scandal at the UK Championship in Telford on Monday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, bookmakers suspended activity on Burnett's first-round match against Stephen Maguire after a flurry of bets were placed on a 9-3 scoreline in the latter's favour. That proved the final score after Burnett missed a black in the 12th frame which would have pulled it back to 8-4.
Scot Burnett told BBC Sport: "In the last frame I have never felt more pressure in my life. I didn't think I could have played the colours knowing people have been saying things."
He added: "On the black I said to myself, 'I need to get this, I need to get this' in case some people start talking. I just felt so under pressure, probably the most pressure I have felt in my life. Then to come off was the lowest feeling, I felt terrible."
On the subject of match-fixing, he added: "People have been laughing and joking about things like that for years, but to my knowledge nobody has ever done anything.
"Snooker is too important, there is a career here."
Governing body World Snooker have not commented directly on the match but issued a general statement outlining their procedures.
It read: "We have arrangements in place with both Betfair and and the Association of British Bookmakers, who contact World Snooker confidentially if irregular betting patterns emerge.
"In such cases the match in question is carefully monitored by World Snooker and a fair assessment of the player's performance will be made.
"In past incidents, which are extremely rare, World Snooker has a particularly stringent line where players have been judged guilty of match-fixing or intention to match-fix."
