Former snooker world champion Graeme Dott has been charged with sexually abusing children.
The 47-year-old, who won the 2006 World Championship, will appear at the High Court in Glasgow on 11 June charged with historical sex offences relating to a girl and a boy.
Court papers allege he abused the girl between 1993 and 1996, beginning when she was around 10, and the boy between 2006 and 2010, from when the child was aged around seven.
Dott has been suspended from the sport ahead of this month’s World Championship at the Crucible, where he was due to enter the qualifying rounds on Friday.
The Scot won the 2006 World Championship, defeating Peter Ebdon in the final, and reached two other finals at the Crucible, in 2004 and 2010.
A statement from the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) said: “Graeme Dott has been suspended due to a case which is scheduled to be heard before the High Court in Scotland
“Whilst court proceedings are ongoing, it would be inappropriate for the WPBSA to make any further comment.”
Dott defeated Ebdon to win the 2006 title at the Crucible in Sheffield and also reached the final in both 2004, when he was beaten by Ronnie O’Sullivan, and 2010, losing out to Neil Robertson.
Having turned professional in 1994, Dott has been a regular on the World Snooker Tour circuit. However, this season has seen him fall down the rankings to outside the world’s top 50.
