On 2 May 2010, Higgins and his manager, Pat Mooney, a World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) board member, were the subject of match-fixing allegations after being filmed in a sting operation conducted by the now defunct "News of the World". An undercover "News of the World" team, led by Mazher Mahmood, posing as promoters, met Higgins and his manager on 30 April, in a hotel room in Kyiv under the pretence of organising a series of events linked to the World Series of Snooker. The newspaper alleged that Higgins and Mooney had agreed to lose four frames in four separate tournaments in exchange for a €300,000 total payment, and further discussed the mechanics of how to fix a frame, which tournaments and opponents to choose, and how to transfer the money to Higgins. Higgins was immediately suspended from the game and Mooney resigned from his position on the WPBSA board. Higgins issued a statement on the same day denying he had ever been involved in match-fixing, and explained that he decided to "play along" out of fear for his safety, suspecting the involvement of the Russian Mafia.