Higgins has vigorously denied the newspaper claims

John Higgins has been found not guilty of all bribery claims made against him by the News of the World.

But at a hearing he was found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute by not reporting the illegal approach made to him to discuss throwing frames.

The three-time world champion was fined £75,000 and banned for six months which was backdated to May when he was originally suspended.

Higgins had always strenuously denied all the allegations.

Higgins was suspended after he and his manager Pat Mooney were filmed by the Sunday newspaper allegedly accepting £261,000 to fix matches.

Higgins defended himself for nine hours on Tuesday at a two-day independent tribunal in London.

The paper published the story on 2 May.

The video appeared to show Higgins and Mooney meeting with an undercover reporter in Kiev, Ukraine, and agreeing to alter the outcome of frames in return for money.

The newspaper alleged that Higgins inquired at the meeting about the best way to conceal the 300,000 euros (£261,000) he would receive for losing frames in four separate matches.

In a published transcript, Higgins said it would be easy to affect the outcome of a frame.

The behind-closed-doors tribunal was conducted by Sport Resolutions UK, a London-based independent dispute resolution service.

Higgins has won 21 ranking titles during his career and if he is cleared, he could make his comeback at the World Open in Glasgow, which begins on 18 September.

Roy Hodgson challenges Dani Pacheco to build Liverpool FC striking role

Sep 8 2010 by Dominic King, Liverpool Echo


ROY HODGSON today challenged Dani Pacheco to build on his encouraging start to the season and show he can provide Liverpool with a potent striking option.

With Dirk Kuyt out for a month and David Ngog battling a hamstring problem, Hodgson could make the trip to Birmingham on Sunday with Fernando Torres as his sole front man.

The Spaniard is not due back at Melwood until Friday following his country's glamour friendly with Argentina, which they lost 4-1 in Buenos Aires last night.

As he played no part and will return unschathed, Torres will lead the line at St Andrews but Hodgson knows he will need options on the bench and Pacheco will be certainly be in his thoughts.

The 19-year-old has caught the eye when Hodgson has pitched him into battle so far – notably away at Trabzonspor in the Europa League.

Although there were some suggestions earlier this summer that Pacheco might have to move on, the Reds boss has confirmed he holds Pacheco in some regard – now he wants to see him flourish.

“I thought Dani did very well when he came on against Manchester City in the five or six minutes he played,” said Hodgson.

“I also thought he did very well when he came on against Trabzonspor and he made a difference. He is a player that we really believe in.

“He is young but it is great that can keep giving him these opportunities and moments on the field and I think these moments will get even longer as the season progresses.

“Now we are in the Europa League, it is good for me too that I will be able to give chances to the likes of him, (Jay) Spearing and (Jonjo) Shelvey.

“They need games and we will have plenty of opportunities in the coming months.”

Pacheco was a big hit at this summer's Under-19 European Championship and finished leading scorer with four goals during Spain's run to the final.

But now Pacheco is determined to show Hodgson his faith won't be misplaced if he decides to let him loose.

“I hope I will play a big part,” said Pacheco. “I know that I have to keep working very hard in training and I will have to take the chances that the manager will give to me.”

Fabio Aurelio, meanwhile, is making progress back to full fitness after missing the 1-0 win over West Brom; he had been taken off in the victory against Trabzonpor as a precaution.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news...n-by-a-lfc-boss

On Monday The Times newspaper listed what it believes are the 50 worst managerial decisions of all time. Now we want your views on which Liverpool gaffers should have been included.


Two former Anfield bosses featured in The Times' run-down - Rafael Benitez and Graeme Souness.

The newspaper picked on Benitez's attempt to sell fan favourite Xabi Alonso in 2008, while Souness had actually left L4 by the time he committed the faux pas of planting a Galatasaray flag on arch-rivals Fenerbahce's pitch - an act that almost caused a riot.

Non-LFC decisions to make the list included Brian Clough telling his new Leeds squad their previous medals were worthless because they'd cheated, Howard Wilkinson selling Eric Cantona to Manchester United, and Graham Taylor allowing cameras to follow England's ill-fated 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign.

What we want to know is, can you think of any calls by Liverpool managers which should have featured?

Think back down the years and leave your thoughts in the comments section below. The best suggestions will appear on Liverpoolfc.tv.

Suso set for Toon debut


John McMahon has revealed Spanish starlet Suso is set to make his competitive debut for Liverpool Reserves against Peter Beardsley's Newcastle United tonight in the Barclays Premier Reserve League North.

You can watch the entire game live on this website on LFCTV Online from 6.55pm.

Teenage hot-shot Suso - full name Jesus Joaquin Fernandez Saenz De La Torre - last week completed his move from FC Cadiz on a scholarship agreement, subject to international clearance.

The 16-year-old forward impressed for the reserves during pre-season and even featured for Roy Hodgson's first team as a late substitute in the friendly defeat to Borussia Moenchengladbach.

"Suso has now got his international clearance and will play," McMahon told Liverpoolfc.tv.

"People are already talking about him as he did really well in pre-season but we have to remember he's a young lad who is still learning the game. We need to take the weight off his shoulders and just let him play.

"He is only 16 and we just want to let him go out and enjoy himself and learn about the English game.

"He has natural ability and we just need to nurture him along.

"Tom Ince will also be in the squad. He is back from injury and hopefully he can contribute to a good performance."

McMahon will take a young squad to the Northumberland FA County Ground and he is hoping for an improved performance after last week's disappointing goalless draw with Wigan Athletic.

"We were very poor against Wigan by our standards," he added.

"I'm not making any excuses but it was a difficult afternoon game as it was a roasting hot day and some of the lads were a bit subdued. We didn't get any tempo or quality in our play.

"We were too deep and we've analysed the game and there is lots of improvement to be done.

"Hopefully we will see a much improved performance both from a team point of view and individuals at Newcastle.

"We will take a young squad and that is good for the lads to get some experience.

"Newcastle like ourselves will try to play the right way and it should be an entertaining game."

Meanwhile, McMahon had some disappointing news to report with Danish youth international Nikola Saric ruled out for the next few months after he was stretchered off in the opening game against Wigan.

"Unfortunately he has been diagnosed as having a broken bone on his lower leg so that will keep him out for the next two months," McMahon added.

"Our best wishes go to Nikola for a speedy recovery and he has a good character.

"He has had a bad time with injuries including several knee operations. He was looking fit and strong in pre-season and this is just unfortunate for the lad."

McMahon also spoke of his pride after seeing some of the club's most promising youngsters make their Anfield debut during Jamie Carragher's testimonial against Everton.

"That's what we are looking for and it was fantastic for some of our boys to experience playing at Anfield for the first time," he added.

"You would like to think the lads would have also taken some experience from sharing a dressing room with the likes of Jamie and Joe Cole.

"They have had a taste of it now and it's up to them to push on and get more experiences like that.

"Always when you are around the first team and the staff you need to impress and always show what you can do.

"It was good to see Nathan Eccleston score and he took his goal well. He looked sharper and brighter and it was nice to see him get the goal in front of the Kop."

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk will be without Liverpool FC forward Dirk Kuyt for the visit of a Finland side who are themselves missing suspended captain Sami Hyypiä.

Liverpool FC forward Dirk Kuyt has been ruled out after picking up a shoulder injury in training on Monday. "I think he might be out for a few weeks," said Van Marwijk.