Scotland's John Higgins celebrates his victory in the awarding ceremony after defeats England's Shaun Murphy by 18-9 in the two-day final match of 2009 World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, England, May 4, 2009. [Xinhua/Zeng Yi]

Snooker's inquiry into a newspaper report saying world number one John Higgins agreed to take a bribe has already begun and will be completed within weeks, the sport's chief Barry Hearn said on Monday.

Higgins was suspended on Sunday after a report in the News of the World said he had agreed to lose frames for money.

There is no suggestion Higgins, 34, has ever thrown a frame or fixed a match and he issued a statement to the media on Sunday firmly denying involvement in any form of snooker match-fixing, and pledging to cooperate fully with authorities.

Hearn said the governing WPBSA would conclude its investigation swiftly.

"The investigation, which is being handled by former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent David Douglas, has already started," Hearn, the WPBSA chairman, told Reuters.

"The date of the hearing will be set shortly and the process will take weeks rather than months. It is something we've got to meet head on."

Higgins, who won his third world title last year but was knocked out early in the current world championship, has vowed to clear his name.

"In my 18 years playing professional snooker I have never deliberately missed a shot, never mind intentionally lost a frame of a match," Higgins said in a statement.

He added: "Those who know me are aware of my love for snooker and that I would never do anything to damage the integrity of the sport I love. My conscience is 100 per cent clear."

Sunday's report came hours before the start of the final of the world championship, the sport's showpiece event. The final concludes on Monday.

The News of the World described what it said was a meeting between Higgins, his agent Pat Mooney -- whose resignation as a member of the WPBSA board was accepted on Sunday -- and reporters purporting to be businessmen in Kiev.

Higgins said in his statement he had become worried he might be dealing with "the Russian mafia" when it was suggested he throw frames in return for large sums of money.

"At that stage I felt the best course of action was just to play along with these guys and get out of Ukraine," he said.