John Higgins says he still doesn’t feel like he’s over the unfounded match-fixing allegations made against him in 2010 and ban for much lesser offences, admitting it was the toughest time in his life.
Higgins was the target of a sting operation from the News of the World and the now defunct newspaper alleged that he agreed to lose four frames in four matches for €300,000 (£261,000).
After being suspended from snooker Higgins was cleared of match-fixing by an independent hearing four months later, but did receive a ban of six months for failing to report the illegal approach and intentionally giving the impression he was prepared to act in breach of betting rules.
The Wizard of Wishaw returned to the sport in impressive style, winning the first tournament he played in after his ban and the 2010 UK Championship shortly after, beating Mark Williams in a classic final.
He says the period beforehand was the most difficult time of his life, though, as he waited for the verdict of the independent hearing and whether he could continue his career or not.
Asked if the situation was the toughest time of his life, Higgins told the Talking Snooker podcast: ‘Without a doubt. I didn’t know if I was ever going to be picking a cue up again.
‘Your career was in the hands of independent committees. You just had to put your trust in them, that they were going to come to the correct decision.
‘Obviously then, trying to get your career back on track again. Without a doubt that was (the toughest time). I still don’t think I’ve really got over it now.’
There is an especially painful reason why the 48-year-old feels he has not got over the scandal, as he believes the stress of the situation could have cost his father in his battle with cancer.
John Higgins Sr passed away in early 2011 and his four-time world champion son has felt that what the family went through the previous year could have made things worse.
‘My dad at the time, he wasn’t well at all,’ Higgins said of the controversy. ‘I think (about) what it did to my family and my dad.
‘It’s a terrible illness that my dad had, but you sometimes think, if that never happened, you don’t know if he could have lasted longer. That’s the tough part of it. That’s just life isn’t it, you’ve just got to get on with it.
‘I suppose I did have a lot of anger, I’ve got to be honest. But I knew I couldn’t keep that with me. If I’d have kept the anger and shut everybody away, it would have ended up bursting you from the inside.
‘I believe you’ve got to just let that go and try and be the same person you are again.’
Higgins would go on to win the 2011 World Championship, the fourth and most recent of his Crucible triumphs and has since gone on to take his ranking title tally to 31.
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