Liang Wenbo and Li Hang are accused of fixing matches and pressuring other players to do the same.

Chinese snooker players Liang Wenbo and Li Hang have been handed lifetime bans from the sport by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association for their role in a match-fixing scandal involving eight more of their countrymen.

Liang and Li were found by an independent disciplinary commission on Tuesday to have fixed five matches in July, then encouraged or put pressure on others to fix matches between July and December.

Liang is a former finalist in the UK Championship, one of the biggest events on the snooker calendar. The pair have until June 20 to appeal against the decision.

A total of 10 Chinese players were sanctioned by the World Snooker Tour, including Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong – two of the biggest names in the sport.

Yan – the 2021 Masters champion – was handed a five-year ban and Zhao – the UK Championship winner from the same year – was banned for one year and eight months.

An investigation was launched following an alert in August from the International Betting Integrity Association and World Snooker’s integrity unit. The 10 players were then suspended pending an investigation.