Stephen Lee arrested after snooker probe into suspicious betting patterns

SNOOKER player Stephen Lee is not expecting to be charged following his arrest as part of an investigation into suspicious betting patterns, his management have said.

The 35-year-old, from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, was released on bail yesterday afternoon after being arrested on Thursday by West Midlands Police and questioned. He has not been charged and is expected to answer bail in three to four months.

A statement from On Q Promotions, Lee's management company, read: "Stephen Lee was taken to a West Midlands Police station for questioning on Thursday, February 11. Stephen co-operated fully with the police inquiry and was released without charge. He does not expect any charge to be made and denies any involvement with cheating or betting irregularities.

"Stephen is now concentrating on practising hard to achieve qualification for the World Championship and to fulfil all of his exhibition commitments.

"Stephen Lee and On Q Promotions will not be making any further comments and would ask that the privacy of Stephen and his family is respected."

Lee was arrested on suspicion of cheating following a joint operation involving the police force and the Gambling Commission. The arrest was made under section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005, which states: "A person commits an offence if he (a) cheats at gambling, or (b) does anything for the purpose of enabling or assisting another person to cheat at gambling."

World Snooker, the commercial arm of governing body the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, yesterday said they awaited further developments.

"In instances where the Gambling Commission commences an investigation into a match, the WPBSA work together with the Commission to assist in their enquiries and the WPBSA will hold their own investigation open pending the conclusion," read a World Snooker statement.

"However, neither the Commission nor the WPBSA will release information surrounding a betting matter while an investigation is ongoing."

It is understood World Snooker is unaware of the circumstances that led to the arrest of Lee, who has won four ranking tournaments in a professional career that began in 1992. He has also reached the World Championship semi-finals, in 2003.

Lee, a father of four children, was once ranked fifth in the world but fell to 25th place at the end of last season. He is currently 23rd in the provisional rankings for 2010-11 and will not appear at the Sanyuan Foods China Open next month after losing to Tony Drago in qualifying.

Lee has collected more than 1.5million in career prize money but lost his place in snooker's elite when he dropped out of the world's top 16 in 2008.

It was a first-round defeat by Joe Swail at the Crucible which confirmed Lee's demise, after which he said: "I have just been making up the numbers the last two years. I am sick and tired of packing my suitcase only to unpack it again. It's dragging me down."