Three-time world snooker champion John Higgins has been suspended until November for bringing the game into disrepute, but has been cleared over more serious allegations of match-fixing.
Higgins was cleared of potentially career-ending charges, but found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute during a two-day hearing of an independent tribunal in London, being handed a six-month ban and a £75,000 fine.
Higgins and his manager Pat Mooney have been punished for 'intentionally giving the impression to others that they were agreeing to act in breach of the betting rules' and for failing to report the matter to World Snooker.
However, the much more serious charges of 'agreeing or offering to accept bribes and agreeing to engage in corrupt or fraudulent conduct' were withdrawn during the hearing.
Higgins, crowned world champion in 1998, 2007 and 2009, was facing the end of his career if he had been found guilty of all charges.
The Scotsman's problems stem from a News of the World sting operation which saw Higgins and Mooney caught on camera in a Kiev hotel, seemingly agreeing to accept money for fixing the outcome of frames within a given match.
The duo have maintained their innocence over match-fixing throughout, claiming that they only agreed to the deal as they feared for their safety.