  We establish an exact mapping between the multiplication table of the
irreducible representations of SU(3) and the fusion algebra of the
two-dimensional conformal field theory in the same universality class of 3D
SU(3) gauge theory at the deconfining point. In this way the Svetitsky-Yaffe
conjecture on the critical behaviour of Polyakov lines in the fundamental
representation naturally extends to whatever representation one considers.
  As a consequence, the critical exponents of the correlators of these Polyakov
lines are determined. Monte Carlo simulations with sources in the symmetric
two-index representation, combined with finite-size scaling analysis, compare
very favourably with these predictions.
