With five ranking titles, he was never a player setting the world of snooker alight, but what he was doing under the noses of World Snooker and all of the fans, soon sent Lee's career into turmoil.
Lee's playing career came to a premature end when he was suspended from WSA competition on 12th October 2012 on match-fixing charges. He was found guilty by an independent tribunal in September 2013 of influencing the outcome of seven snooker matches between 2008 and 2009. He received a 12-year match ban backdating to the start of his suspension and will run until the 12th October 2024.
It's not only match-fixing that have been catching the headlines for Lee, but also fraud.
He "sold" his personal cue to a fan on Facebook for £1,600 but never delivered the cue. The fan reported this to the police. Lee was then ordered to pay the £1,600 for the cost of cue.
It's not been all controversy during Lee's career however. During his first season as a professional player, he won 33 consecutive frames in qualifying matches, which is an all-time professional record. With 176 century breaks and a highest overall break of 145 at the 2008 Northern Ireland Trophy, Lee is also no stranger to making strong breaks during matches.
However, some may be asking the question, due to not only the match-fixing but also the fraud, all of these things that World Snooker will not stand for, should Lee not be banned for life?
Such extreme cases of match-fixing is the main issue and who's to know whether he wouldn't do it if he continues to play professionally once his ban is up? It's unlikely that this would happen, but who's to say it wouldn't?
My own view on this would be, if a player wants to fix match results and they get found out about it, they should not be allowed to play professional snooker again. Also, the players who have accepted that they will also go along with the fixing, should also be given a ban; not as extreme as one for life, but one to teach them a lesson.
From my perspective, I think Stephen Lee is a massive lesson for snooker. I don't think any player could be trusted anymore, no matter who they are or how big they are. Match-fixing, doping, whatever it is, these things will always happen in sport, there's no hiding it. It's just a question of the sports governing body slamming down on those players and possibly banning them for life to show younger players and also experienced ones, cheating will not be tolerated.
Sean
@SeanC_F1
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