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John Higgins says he faces "the biggest match of my life" over allegations he agreed to throw frames for money.A News of the World report claimed it secretly filmed the Scottish player agreeing to take a £261,000 bribe.
And snooker's governing body has suspended the world number one pending an investigation into the allegations.
There is no suggestion Higgins has ever thrown a frame or fixed a match, and he said: "It's not the World Championship at stake, it's my reputation."
The video reportedly shows Higgins and his manager, Pat Mooney, meeting with an undercover reporter in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, and agreeing to alter the outcome of frames in return for money.
The Sunday newspaper also alleges that Higgins inquired at the meeting about the best ways to conceal the 300,000 euros to be received for losing frames in four separate matches later this year.
In a published transcript, Higgins said it would be easy to affect the outcome of a frame.
Higgins, though, released a statement on Sunday vehemently protesting his innocence: "My conscience is 100% clear," it read.
And a subsequent media release from the 34-year-old three-time world champion reaffirmed his intention to fight the claims: "I will co-operate fully with the snooker authorities. "I have built my reputation on honesty and integrity. Sadly, others have now damaged that reputation and it is now left to me to clear my name. I have never been involved in any form of snooker match-fixing.
"In my 18 years playing professional snooker I have never deliberately missed a shot, never mind intentionally lost a frame or a match."
Mooney, who has since resigned from the board of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), claimed he and Higgins had been intimidated at the Kiev meeting and had, therefore, agreed to the deal in order to leave the scene as soon as possible.
Higgins concurred with this claim, and said he "just wanted to get out of the hotel and onto the plane home", fearing he was dealing with the "Russian Mafia".
However the newspaper has said its investigations editor had held three prior meetings with Mooney in Edinburgh, adding that Higgins and his manager did not "show any signs of being under duress or in any way unhappy at being in our company".
The tabloid has promised to publish further revelations next weekend.
Former Metropolitan Police detective chief superintendent David Douglas will lead the WPBSA probe into the claims, with the professional body's chairman, Barry Hearn, predicting that the disciplinary process will take "days and weeks" rather than "months and months".
Hearn also told the BBC that anyone found guilty of match-fixing would receive "a very, very, very lengthy ban".
Sports promoter Hearn was installed as the sport's new supremo in December on the back of radical plans to boost the sport's popularity.
His resolve to continue with these reforms may be tested in the coming weeks, though six-time world champion Steve Davis says he expected Hearn's influence will be crucial in attempting to restore the game's integrity, which he claimed had "evaporated overnight".
"With Barry Hearn in the process of taking the game over, he may be able to cut the cancer out of it from day one," said Davis.
Hearn told the BBC he had already spoken to Mooney and planned to meet with the sport's professional players on Wednesday to discuss the allegations. "This is now top of the agenda," he said.
Meanwhile, snooker's showpiece, the World Championship final, was under way between Australian Neil Robertson and Scot Graeme Dott, also managed by Mooney.
The outcome, though, was likely to overshadowed by the claims levelled against Higgins, who relinquished the crown he won last year when crashing out at the second-round stage to veteran Davis.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.