WPBSA Statement | Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon

WPBSA Statement 18 November 2022

The WPBSA and Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon

At a hearing that took place before the independent WPBSA Disciplinary Committee on 25^th October 2022, Tirapongpaiboon admitted serious breaches of the WPBSA Conduct Regulations. This followed investigations, working closely with Sportradar in 2013, 2015 and 2022.

As a result of the decision of the WPBSA Board to refuse Tirapongpaiboon membership of the WPBSA in June 2022, he fully cooperated with the new WPBSA investigation into match fixing. He admitted to fixing the outcome of six matches between 2013 and 2015.

The finding of the Tribunal was that the starting point for Tirapongpaiboon was a suspension of nine years. He was given credit for his plea of guilty which reduced the suspension to six years. Of that period, he will serve a suspension of two years nine months unconditionally. The remaining three years and three months will be suspended, provided there is compliance with the terms agreed between Tirapongpaiboon and the WPBSA to provide significant assistance to the WPBSA in its anti-corruption work.

Provided he complies with his agreement with the WPBSA, his suspension will run from 15^th June 2022 until 14^th March 2025. He was ordered to pay £1,925 towards the WPBSA costs.

Jason Ferguson, Chairman of the WPBSA said: “This case shows that if a player chooses to fix a match they will be caught, no matter how long after the event. Thanawat has shown true remorse and wants to help ensure that other players do not make the mistakes that he did as a young player by assisting the WPBSA in its player education program. This has been reflected in the sanction. This case shows how seriously the WPBSA treats match fixing.”

The full findings of the Independent Tribunal can be found here.

Tirapongpaiboon has until 1^st December 2022 to appeal the decision of the Tribunal.

Tirapongpaiboon charges admitted:

1. That you fixed the outcome of your match with Noppon Saengkham at the Australian Open Qualifier in Gloucester on 1^st June 2013 in breach of Rule 2.1.2.1.

2. That you fixed the outcome of your match with Ross Muir at the Shanghai Masters Qualifiers in Doncaster on 7^th August 2013 in breach of Rule 2.1.2.1.

3. That you fixed the outcome of your match with Ding Junhui at the China Open Qualifiers in Gloucester on 16^TH February 2014 in breach of Rule 2.1.2.1.

4. That you fixed the outcome of your match with Martin Gould at the Welsh Open in Wales on 19^th February 2014 in breach of Rule 2.1.2.1.

5. That you fixed the outcome of your match with Stuart Bingham at the UK Championships in York on 25^th November 2014 in breach of Rule 2.1.2.1.

6. That you fixed the outcome of your match with Martin O’Donnell at the PTC European Tour 2 in Furth, Germany on 28^th August 2015 in breach of Rule 2.1.2.1.

For the avoidance of doubt, Tirapongpaiboon’s opponents in the matches in question were not involved in any way in these rule breaches

WPBSA Conduct Regulations extract:

2. Betting misconduct

2.1   It shall be a breach of these Rules for a Member to do any of the following:

• Corruption:

2.1.2.1  to fix or contrive, or to be a party to any effort to fix or contrive, the result, score, progress, conduct or any other aspect of the Tour and/or any Tournament or Match;

The full WPBSA Conduct Regulations can be viewed here.