Snooker sets up hotline

The news comes on the same day that three-times world champion John Higgins returned to the sport with a 4-2 win over Joe Jogia at the Ruhr championships in Germany.

The Scotsman (pictured, centre) served a six-month suspension and was fined £75,000 for bringing the game into disrepute.

Higgins was cleared of match-fixing allegations made against him by the News of the World newspaper, but accepted his ban for giving the impression he was willing to throw frames and for failing to report the matter to World Snooker.

Higgins has since ended his association with former manager Pat Mooney (pictured, right) who was banned from the sport after an investigation into the incident.

The sport's new disciplinary chief David Douglas says he is keen to avoid a repeat of the 'sting' in which Higgins was exposed by secret video recordings at an apparent business meeting in Kiev.

"It is a hotline and e-mail service for the players that is anonymous or otherwise," said Douglas. "The players can use it to report suspicious activities or to inquire about information about the rules and regulations.

"It is a case of the WPBSA being proactive and making sure we are not arrogant to think that corruption is not a part, or could not be a part, of the sport."

The players are due to hold a meeting today with the sport's new Integrity Unit in Germany to be briefed on the new hotline.