Nathan Aspinall is facing a fine after Sky Sports were forced to apologise when he was caught on camera making a lewd gesture.
The Asp reached the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts with a comfortable 10-6 win against Jermaine Wattimena at the Aldersley Sports Village in Wolverhampton.
But during a break, as he followed the Dutchman off stage, the world No.12 appeared to be making a crude hand gesture – in good humour - behind Wattimena's back.
Now he is likely to be carpeted by disciplinary bosses after the Professional Darts Corporation referred the incident to the Darts Regulation Authority.
A PDC source confirmed last night: “The video will be studied by the DRA, who would determine if any offence has been committed and apply any appropriate punishment.”
Snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan was fined £4,000 last month for making lewd gestures at two separate tournaments and Aspinall, 31, will probably be lighter in the pocket after Sky's on-air apology.
Aspinall later explained the gesture was aimed at himself as a commentary on his own performance.
Asked if he could expect a DRA fine, he admitted: “Yeah, probably – but it was no gesture at Jermaine. It was purely the fact that's how I played in the at second session.
“I did it, I shouldn't have done it, but there's nothing I can do now. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment things.”
Aspinall admitted he was frustrated with his performance in the second session after being pulled back by Wattimena.
He added: "The start was really good, the middle was really poor and I closed the game out well. That was my assessment.
"I came out really well and felt really good but came out after the break and it was rubbish. He came back to 6-4 so I knew I had to get back to my best and close the game out.
"I think I was too relaxed and thought I had won the game after the first break and that is a poor attitude to have. When I walked off after the second break I was having a word with myself."
