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Davis to get key role in snooker clean-up

Steve Davis had an eye on John Higgins at this year's World Championship © Getty Images

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World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn has revealed Steve Davis will be handed a key role in his bid to rebuild the game's tarnished reputation.

The final of snooker's showpiece event, which was won by Neil Robertson, was overshadowed by the revelations concerning 2009 World Champion John Higgins. The Scot was captured on film agreeing to throw frames for money and has been suspended pending a thorough investigation.

Hearn is vowing to leave no stone unturned in a bid to remove the "sickness" from the game and six-time champion Davis will be given a prominent role.

"Steve has been there, seen it, done it and got the t-shirt," Hearn said. "He still knows the players because he still plays. He can speak to them and is on their level.

"I need the right people. I need the influence of people like Steve to explain this is why we play the game. Steve is the best ambassador in the game, cleaner than clean, and people listen to him.

"He is an intelligent man who understands the damage this sort of thing can do to the sport. I'll tell you how much he loves snooker: If the world was going to end in an hour, I'd have a look at the accounts and Steve would play a frame of snooker."

Higgins has launched a staunch defence, insisting he played along with the offer to throw frames as he feared for his safety, but Hearn has questioned why the Scot did not come to him immediately.

"I was disappointed not to get a call from John on his way back from Kiev - and I want players to call me if there is anything on their minds," Hearn added. "There are bad people out there that might try to influence someone, tell me who they are and we'll deal with them as well.

"If he had told me, 'You won't believe what has happened to me', it would have at least put it on my radar.

"John works at a high level but I want a youngster to know they have access to us as well.

"If there is a sickness in snooker, that's the death knell for snooker unless that sickness is removed. You can be confident that if anyone is proven guilty, the penalties will be very harsh indeed.

"There are temptations in life for everybody but our sporting heroes have to be whiter than white, they have to be totally cleansed of anything like this."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.