MATTHEW SELT has been handed a three-month suspended ban and slapped with a £21,000 fine for abusive and aggressive behaviour.
The world No.33 was charged last October with breaches of the WPBSA Conduct Regulations and his contract with World Snooker.
GettyMatthew Selt has been handed a three-month suspended ban[/caption]
This followed incidents that took place several weeks earlier at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Riyadh – the first ranking event to be held in the Kingdom.
According to the WPBSA (World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association), Selt, 39, was aggressive in his behaviour and was rude and abusive in his language towards a Matchroom senior executive in the presence of an important WST partner.
The 2019 Indian Open winner sent an “abusive text” to another player.
And it is also claimed he “was aggressive in his behaviour and was rude and abusive in his language” towards the same individual.
Selt – who is set to continue his role as vice-chairman of the WPBSA players’ association – has accepted the allegations and apologised to the people concerned.
In mitigation, Selt claimed he was under a significant amount of stress and pressure at the time of the incidents.
A three-month suspension will remain against his name until the end of the 2025-26 snooker season.
But it would be activated if he is “found guilty of, or pleading guilty to, any further breaches of the Regulations and/or Contract in that period”.
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He also has to pay a fine of £10,000 as well as £11,000 towards the governing body’s legal costs.
WPBSA say that their “members shall, at all times, behave in a proper and correct manner consistent with their status as a professional sportsperson”.
And no snooker player should act in a way that “is likely to bring into disrepute the games of snooker and/or billiards”.
Selt lost 5-3 to China’s Pang Junxu in round four of the new Middle East tournament last September.
He is not involved in this week’s World Open in Yushan but is due to face Kyren Wilson in the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong in March.
The Romford-born cueist is a hot-headed individual and came under fire for yelling at a teenager and the referee in a stunning outburst last December in German Masters qualifying in Sheffield.
Selt shouted “oh my God!” when Latvian Artemijs Zizins, 18, fluked a match-ball red in the final frame of their contest and he also told the ref to “shut up” amid a back-stage commotion.
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