Snooker Betting Crisis: Ronnie O'Sullivan Claims He Was Offered £20k to Fix Match

Reigning world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will be asked to clarify his comments after claiming that he rejected an offer of £20,000 to fix a Premier League snooker match.

The 37 year old made the claim in his new autobiography and comes less than a month since Stephen Lee was handed a 12-year ban after being found guilty of seven match-fixing charges.

"Someone rang me and said he'd like to meet me over in the forest and have a walk through the woods," wrote O'Sullivan. "What they were offering, 20 grand, I could get for a couple of nights' work."

Nigel Mawer, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's disciplinary committee, has now asked the five-time world champion to clarify his claims.

"We are aware of what has been said in his book and we will be writing to Ronnie O'Sullivan to ask him to explain his comments," Mawer told the BBC.

O'Sullivan remains one of the most popular characters in snooker despite making the decision to take six months away from the sport after winning his fifth world title in May.

"If anyone could get away with it, I could. I could just play one-handed, or left-handed or just put a towel over my head, and pretend I was going nuts," explained O'Sullivan.

"But it's not something I would or could do. I couldn't live with myself; I'd feel that was robbing somebody."

O'Sullivan's claims will be disappointing for World Snooker boss Barry Hearn who has worked hard to resurrect the sport in recent years after a massive decline in audience figures.

While Stephen Lee is currently challenging his ban from the sport, former world champion John Higgins was forced to endure a suspension from snooker back in 2010 when he was the subject of match-fixing allegations after being filmed in a sting operation conducted by the News of the World.

Higgins received a six-month ban and was fined £75,000 but has since returned to the sport and won his fourth world title in 2011.

O'Sullivan had recently claimed that he knew of several players who had been approached about fixing a match but later said that he had no concrete evidence.

"I've heard there's many more players who throw snooker matches," said O'Sullivan. "I suppose Steve Lee was just caught out.

"No need to worry if you got nothing to hide. But plenty of people have got loads to hide. That's why there is no free speech. They're hiding."