Gerwyn Price slams ‘drunken hooligans’ who are ‘spoiling’ darts as he backs controversial Saudi Arabian move

GERWYN PRICE believes a potential World Championship move to Saudi Arabia would mean “less drunken hooligans”.

The former world champion responded to Professional Darts Corporation President Barry Hearn hinting that the showpiece event could be switched from the Ally Pally to the Middle East in the future.

Hearn revealed that the Saudis are “very keen” to take the tournament.

And although they are not ready yet, they “won’t be far along”.

It’s been stated that the Saudis won’t allow alcohol at darts events. 

But Hearn also revealed he could sell 250,000 seats for the Worlds there instead of currently 90,000 in the iconic north London venue.

And any talk of leaving the Alexandra Palace will divide the sport the same as snooker’s Worlds departing from the Crucible, which has also been talked about this year by Hearn.

But Price, currently preparing for the World Series in New York, was a surprise backer of the potential departure from London.

He said: “Maybe it’s the way forward, less drunken hooligans that aren’t fans, causing fights, that turn up once in a blue moon and spoil the outcome of the game in what’s the most important event of the year for the players.

“If you want that atmosphere there’s four months of it with the Premier League. 

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“People can still enjoy themselves without alcohol.”

Yesterday saw Hearn open the door to a shock Saudi switch.

He said: "I have spoken to the Saudis and they were very keen. But of course there's no alcohol in Saudi.

"There will be quite soon. And when it does, the first event they will want to stage in Saudi will be darts.

"It's a great atmosphere at Ally Pally, but well, we're looking at it.

"And we're going to be very adventurous because we have tremendous demands all around the world for people that want to play in the World Darts Championship from different countries.

"So we've got to start looking at making the World Championships bigger.

"If I went from 96 players to 128 for example, which I can easily do in a heartbeat, it brings in a lot more TV money from different countries.

"And from the fans' point of view, it gives me an extra 25,000 seats. Still nowhere near enough. I could sell a quarter of a million seats for the world championship. I sell 90,000.

"Do I go into the big hall? I think there's a lot of work, but that would give me 6,000 seats. And I'd still be at Ally Pally.

"Or do I go somewhere else? Everyone will say, 'Are you gonna take it to Saudi?' Well, no, don't be silly. They're not ready yet. But they won't be far along.

"They won't allow alcohol and the essence of darts is it's party time, isn't it? It's fun as well as great sport."

Gerwyn Price has traditionally responded poorly to the loud and boozy crowds that frequent Ally Pally and other venues.

At the 2023 World Darts, he wore ear defenders to block out the noise of the fans before they were banned by the PDC.

The 39-year-old has won a PDC World Championship, but it came in 2021 when the tournament was behind closed doors.