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Allen slapped with ban & fine for cheat slur

Mark Allen has been punished for accusing Cao Yupeng of being dishonest © Getty Images

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Mark Allen has been banned for three months and fined £10,000 for accusing China's Cao Yupeng of cheating at the World Championship.

Allen caused uproar when he inferred that Cao had been dishonest by not declaring an "obvious" illegal push shot during their first-round encounter at the Crucible in April.

After his shock exit in Sheffield, Allen said: "I thought the big turning point was at 5-4 when he was in the balls and ... the referee missed a blatant push. It was quite obvious to me and anyone who was watching at home would have been able to see it.

"It seems to be a bit of a trait for the Chinese players because there've been instances in the past, of fouls and blatant cheating going on. It needs to be corrected."

Allen did later apologise for his comments but the sport's governing body, World Snooker, has punished the Northern Irishman - although it said the ban will only come into force should Allen commit another offence in the next six months.

A World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association statement said: "The WPBSA disciplinary committee consider that this behaviour is unacceptable and offensive to China and the Chinese players. Such behaviour will not be tolerated by the WPBSA."

It is not the first time Allen, who had to fork out £1,000 towards the cost of the disciplinary hearing, has been in trouble: he was fined £1,000 in March and warned about his future conduct for comments he made on Twitter about China and the Chinese people.

He was also rapped for swearing during a press conference at the UK Championship last December - an act that cost him £250.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.