By Dan Warren BBC Sport in Sheffield

Alex Higgins has claimed players have accepted cash from bookies

Alex Higgins could face disciplinary action after an outburst in a Sunday newspaper in which he claimed snooker is corrupt.

The former world champion alleged that professional players had thrown games for bookies, although he said he had never succumbed to the temptation.

But a spokesman for the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) - of which Higgins is still a member - rubbished the Irishman's claims.

"The story is ludicrous," he said.

"There is no substance to it, no names are mentioned and there is no truth in the allegations.

"The matter will be referred to the WPBSA, who will look at the story and take any appropriate action."

Not every player who has played has been straight Alex Higgins

Six-time world champion Steve Davis was unimpressed by the suggestion that the game was corrupt.

"The snooker world stopped taking notice of Alex Higgins years ago," he added.

Higgins' outburst appeared in Sunday's News of the World, in which he claimed that players had been throwing matches for years.

"Some of them are pretty repulsive characters - because they wear a white shirt it does not make them clean," he said.

He claimed he was offered �20,000 in cash to throw a match against Canadian Cliff Thorburn in the Irish Masters in 1989.

"Professional snooker has a good name for being straight but there are a few dark clouds hanging over it.

"Not every player who has played has been straight."

Despite earning plenty of money during his career, Higgins current financial state is thought to be dire and friends such as boxing promoter Eugene Maloney have organised benefits to lessen his plight.