Higgins to learn his fate

On Tuesday, John Higgins will reach the final stage in the quest to clear his name following the allegations of frame-fixing which rocked snooker.

Three-time former world champion Higgins will face an independent tribunal at a hearing due to last two days, and hopes it will conclude with a judgement in his favour, allowing him to return to the sport.

On May 2, the first day of the World Championship final, the News of the World alleged that Higgins and his manager Pat Mooney had agreed to take money to influence the outcome of matches.

Higgins and Mooney both travelled to Ukraine where they took part in a meeting with undercover reporters posing as businessmen who they believed were keen to set up tournaments in the country. Higgins and Mooney ran the World Series of Snooker, which staged tournaments in countries the main professional tour did not visit.

The News of the World alleged they agreed to accept £261,000 in return for fixing the outcome of four frames in matches to be played later this year at the new events.

Higgins swiftly denied the claims, insisting in a statement: "Can I say that I have never been involved in any form of snooker match-fixing. In my 18 years playing professional snooker I have never deliberately missed a shot, never mind intentionally lost a frame or a match."

However he was immediately suspended and warned he would face "severe" punishment if the allegations could be proven.

The hearing hosted by Sport Resolutions, a London-based independent dispute resolution service, will be held behind closed doors and World Snooker will announce the outcome in a statement at its conclusion.

If Higgins is cleared, he will be free to resume his playing career with immediate effect, and could make his comeback at the World Open in Glasgow, which begins on September 18. Should the hearing find against him, however, Higgins would face a long ban from the sport, although a lifetime ban appears out of the question, on the basis of recent remarks from World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn.

Higgins in May described the task of proving his innocence as "the biggest match of my life". He insisted at the time of the allegations coming to light that he and Mooney had feared they were in the company of "Russian mafia" in Kiev and decided "to play along with these guys and get out of Ukraine".