The Conker World Championships has been embroiled in a cheating row after the winner of the tournament was discovered with a painted steel counterfeit in his pocket.
David Jakins, who has been competing since 1977, clinched the 2024 men’s competition title at the international event in Southwick, Northamptonshire this weekend on what was his 46th attempt.
However, following the 82-year-old’s victory he was found to have a metal replica of a conker, shaped and painted brown to look like genuine.
It was reportedly threaded on identical lace and concealed in a pocket.
In addition to competing, Jakins served as the competition’s top judge, called the "King Conker," responsible for drilling and stringing competitors' chestnuts.
One of Jakins' beaten opponent Alistair Johnson-Ferguson, 23, from Canary Wharf, told The Telegraph: "My conker disintegrated in one hit, and that just doesn't happen.
"Now it turns out King Conker had a dummy steel conker, so he could have swapped his real conker for that one. Or he could have marked the conker strings to pick out a harder nut.
"I'm suspicious of foul play and have expressed my surprise to organisers."
Mr Jakins has branded accusations from multiple individuals a “load of nonsense”, according to World Conker Championships spokesperson St. John Burkett, who said he has probed him about the decoy.
While Mr Jakins won the men’s competition, he lost in the overall final to women's 34-year-old champion Kelci Banschbach, originally from United States.
Doubt was cast on the validity of Mr Jakin’s win as St. John Burkett said an investigation of a video suggested no foul play.
He said: "We are currently minded to think that the win was fair, and that the steel conker was kept in the pocket throughout, but just need to complete the last parts of the investigation.
"Whilst Mr Jakins put his hand in his pocket at the end of the match and indeed threw a conker from a different pocket into the crowd, he was very closely watched by four judges and his opponent.
"It looks like it was absolutely impossible for him to cheat. We have got some various other testimony that indicates innocence."
Since its inception in 1965, the main aim of the Conker World Championships - which this year drew 256 players and more than 2,000 fans - has been to raise money for charities that support the visually impaired, with over £400,000 being raised over the years.
