Zhao Xintong made history on Monday by becoming the first Asian world champion in snooker, defeating Mark Williams 18-12 in the final at the Crucible.
His triumph, however, has been overshadowed by controversy regarding his eligibility to compete.
The 28-year-old Chinese potter returned to action in November after serving a 20-month ban for his involvement in snooker's biggest match-fixing scandal.
Former world champion Shaun Murphy has now revealed that numerous players questioned why Zhao was allowed to participate whilst still banned in his homeland.
Zhao Xintong became the first-ever Chinese world champion on Monday
PAMurphy made his comments on the OneFourSeven Snooker Podcast, where he claimed players had raised concerns about Zhao's participation.
"This point was made to anyone in World Snooker and the WPBSA who would listen at the time," Murphy said.
He explained that many questioned how a player still banned by their own governing body could be deemed "in good standing".
Murphy insisted that "a lot of players have the same view" and the Players' Board had discussed the matter extensively with the WPBSA.
Zhao's initial suspension was 30 months, but this was reduced to 20 months after he pled guilty to charges of being party to another player fixing matches and betting on matches himself.
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Despite his global ban ending in September, the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) maintained his original punishment.
This means Zhao cannot compete in his homeland until July 1, despite his remarkable achievement at the Crucible.
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Zhao Xintong has had a controversial past in snooker
Reuters
His path to victory included impressive wins over Mark Williams in the final and a commanding 17-7 defeat of Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals.
"The question we all asked was, how can a player who is still banned be deemed to be in good standing?" Murphy continued.
"I'm yet to hear a satisfactory answer from anyone at WPBSA Towers or the tour.
"There are a lot of people of the view that, actually, had he served his full ban and come back to the sport when he was in good standing with his NGB, no one would have a word to say about it.
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Getty"Jason Ferguson was on telly over the weekend saying that it's unprecedented and this and that that we've never seen it before.
"Then in another interview, [he was] saying there are rules in place for this type of thing, and it's happened before, and the rules are well established."
The 2005 world champion concluded with a pointed question about these contradictory statements: "Which one is it? We don't know."
