Higgins handed suspension

John Higgins has been suspended by snooker's world governing body following the newspaper allegations that he and his manager Pat Mooney agreed to accept money to influence the outcome of matches.

New world number one Higgins and Mooney were filmed by the News of the World newspaper allegedly agreeing to accept £261,000 in return for fixing the outcome of four frames in matches to be played later this year.

"Pat Mooney has resigned from the WPBSA Board and his resignation has been accepted, with immediate effect," World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Barry Hearn announced. "John Higgins has been suspended from future WPBSA tournaments, pending an immediate enquiry."

He added: "The WPBSA enquiry will be headed by David Douglas and will be carried out with the utmost urgency.

"There is a process to follow in accordance with WPBSA rules, this process has been initiated.

"This matter has brought the very fabric of the game into question and the strongest possible message needs to be sent out that this behaviour has no part to play in our game and will not be tolerated. Any wrong doing will be severely dealt with."