John Higgins banned for six months but cleared of match-fixing

The world snooker No1 John Higgins will return to the sport in November after he was cleared of agreeing to fix matches but suspended and fined over two lesser charges.

Higgins had been suspended since May, when the sport was rocked by a report in the News of the World that alleged he had agreed to lose frames in four matches in return for £261,000 during a secretly recorded meeting in the Ukraine.

The three-times world champion was cleared following an independent two-day tribunal that pinned the blame firmly on his former business partner Pat Mooney, who was banned from the sport for life despite also escaping the match-fixing charges on a technicality.

"I am pleased that Sport Resolutions and WPBSA have concluded, after a thorough and fair investigation, that I was not guilty of any dishonesty and had no intention to fix a match and no intention to do anything corrupt," said Higgins. "If I am guilty of anything it is of naivety and trusting those who, I believed, were working in the best interests of snooker and myself."

There was no suggestion Higgins had ever been involved in any match-fixing related conversation prior to his arrival in Kiev, Ian Mill QC accepted, and he went along with the suggestions only because he felt threatened and because Mooney told him to.

Barry Hearn, the World Snooker chairman who has vowed to set up a new anti-corruption unit to clean up a sport that still has three other players under police investigation for match fixing issues, said: "It was a very professional, concise and clear judgment and we want to move on. I think it was made clear who the culprit is."

Higgins was cleared of the most serious charges – of agreeing to accept a bribe and agreeing to engage in corrupt or fraudulent