Clog almighty Michael van Gerwen claims some of his rivals played fast and loose with Covid-19 rules at Alexandra Palace last year.
The green machine withdrew from the PDC Darts World Championship before his third round tie with Chris Dobey 12 months ago after a lateral flow test returned the dreaded two red bars. Fellow Dutchman Vincent van der Voort and Dave Chisnall were also forced to abandon their crusades at Ally Pally after contracting the virus.
But Van Gerwen has hinted darkly that other players carried on despite knowing or suspecting they were positive, scowling: “I am just one of the guys who was honest - put it that way.”
And as he prepared to face Niels Zonneveld or Lewy Williams next week, the three-times world champion revealed there was an angry dimension to his persona, admitting: “I can be a real miserable b*****d, 100 per cent.
“I think I have a good heart, but people need to understand darts is not a team sport. I am there for myself, I don’t care about anyone else. That is how it is.”
Before last year's fancy dress convention at Ally Pally, MVG was a front-runner to land the £500,000 jackpot – but he fears his integrity cost him a chance to regain the world No.1 spot in the Professional Darts Corporation rankings. At the time, he branded the PDC's Covid testing protocols “leaky as a basket” after leaving his wife Daphne and two young children behind in Holland to spend Christmas in London.
Van der Voort and another Dutch player, Dirk van Duijvenbode, had joined Van Gerwen for a festive meal on Christmas Eve, with two of them reporting positive tests and forced to isolate in their hotel. Although PDC president Barry Hearn admitted Van Gerwen's absence from the tournament was a “big loss” he added pointedly: “Hindsight is a wonderful adviser.”
Van Gerwen, 33, still feels he paid the price for sticking to the rules, saying: “There weren’t a lot of honest people, but I was one of them. You can answer the rest yourself. I am not going to name names. I feel better in myself, of course, I couldn’t live with myself otherwise. It hurts. But there are a lot more important things than a game of darts.”
Asked what went through his mind when he saw his positive test result, he shrugged: “Yeah, that you’re f*****. I wasn’t really sick or anything. Nothing whatsoever. Everything goes through your mind, I am not going to lie, but I decided to withdraw myself, simple. If you ask me the question now what would you have done, I wouldn’t have said anything – like the rest -beecause it cost me.
“No-one knew at that time what the danger was of Corona. Now it’s fluid, no-one really cares anymore. I am jabbed. I don’t think about the money - I was more annoyed because I was playing well, the first round (against Chas Barstow) I had played some good darts and I knew I had a chance to win it.
“That's what hurts. I made a decision, I did it with a clear mind and you need to stand behind your decision.”
For the last 12 months, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price – who have won the last three world titles between them – have been fighting it out for the No.1 spot, which Ven Gerwen held for more than seven years. But MVG – the bookies' 5-2 favourite to land a fourth crown – insisted: “It doesn't hurt because I know if you look to reality, they know that within two years I will be back to No.1.
“One of the things is I have to do is to win one of the next two world championships – and the chances of me doing that are quite big. I am probably due a change of luck. Two years ago, I had to rush back from the Netherlands before the UK border was closed, and this year I had an operation on my wrist – although it didn't stop me winning four TV majors.
“There were loads of factors in the past few years which didn’t do me any favours, but the other players know who is the one to beat.”
The PDC did not wish to comment after being approached by Mirror Sport.
