WORLD champion Neil Robertson has urged his fellow players to lay off John Higgins when the shamed Scot returns from his suspension next month.

Higgins was cleared of match-fixing but slapped with a six-month ban and fined £75,000 in September after admitting breaching rules around betting, following an investigation into allegations made by the News of the World that he agreed to throw frames in future tournaments.

The Scot admitted he should have gone to the governing body, World Snooker, at the earliest opportunity to report the discussions at a meeting in Kiev with men he believed to be businessmen, who were in fact undercover reporters.

Higgins avoided long-term punishment but Robertson suspects some players will be surprised the three-time former world champion is back so soon.

The ban was backdated to the time of his initial suspension in May, so Higgins will soon be clear to resume his career – not in time for tomorrow’s Power Snooker tournament at London’s IndigO2 where Robertson competes, but at the Euro Players Tour Championship event in Germany, starting on November 11.

Robertson bears no grudge, despite news of the Kiev meeting breaking on the first day of the World Championship final – the biggest match of the Australian’s life so far – and largely overshadowing the occasion.

“Some players probably feel the suspension should have been for longer, some players feel it was probably right,” 28-year-old Robertson said.

“But it was out of our hands. The players aren’t the ones who make the decisions, [World Snooker chairman] Barry Hearn is not the one who made the decision on the ban – it was an independent tribunal.

“So if any players want to have anything negative to say then it should be towards them and not John Higgins.

“It’s not John Higgins’ fault. All he can do is plead his case and take whatever the suspension or fine was.

“I think everyone’s looking forward to having John back in the game. He’s a fantastic player.

“We’re all human beings and make mistakes. John will be welcomed back by me for sure.

“Having the likes of John and Ronnie at their peak and still in the game is fantastic and when John comes back it will be another world-class player to beat, and that makes me even more inspired to practice harder.”