Darts caller Russ Bray thrust under the ‘fartgate’ scandal cloud

news.com.au

Two-time world champion Gary Anderson and his 34-year-old Dutch opponent Wesley Harms were playing for a quarterfinal spot at the Grand Slam of Darts on Friday (AEST) with the 47-year-old Scot blowing away his younger opponent 10-2.

But it was the “rotten egg smells” at the oche or throwing line that were making noise after the match and have since rocked the sport.

In a post-match TV interview, Harms, 34, claimed his Scottish rival was responsible for breaking wind on stage.

But Anderson hit back, suggesting it was Harms who left the unpleasant smell.

Now PDC chairman Barry Hearn has weighed in, even hinting a third party might be responsible for the offensive odours.

“We’ve got to get to the bottom of this,” Hearn joked.

Hearn told BBC Sport the Darts Regulation Authority is able to fine or suspend players guilty of gamesmanship or a lack of professionalism, before throwing an additional spanner in the works.

“I guess people wonder if blowing off might constitute advanced gamesmanship. Then again, (caller Russ Bray) was just about within farting distance,” Hearn said.

“Something doesn’t smell right. There is nothing worse than a silent fart. This could run and run.”

Bray has called darts for 22 years and has categorically denied dropping the bombshell.

Anderson was strong in his denials when put under the spotlight by Harms.

“It definitely came from table-side and it was eggs, rotten eggs, but not from me,” Anderson said.

“Every time I walked past there was a waft of rotten eggs so that’s why I was thinking it was him.

“It definitely wasn’t me. I thought he had a s*** and I went, ‘That’s dirty’.

“It was bad. It was a stink. Then he started to play better and I thought he must have needed to get some wind out.

“If somebody has done that they need to see a doctor. Seemingly he says it was me but I would admit it.”

Harms reckons he noticed a “fragrant smell” on the stage, which he believed to have been left by Anderson.

He let rip to Dutch TV channel RTL7, saying: “It’ll take me two nights to lose this smell from my nose. I didn’t know things like this can also happen within the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation).”

Hearn said it was a unique situation in his experience with professional darts.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of such a contentious — almost contagious — incident,” he said.

Darts are serious business in the UK with the sport the second most views sport on Sky Sports, behind only football, with big arena shows drawing big crowd numbers.

“On a slightly more serious note, this is a top-level competition involving highly skilled sportsmen — so we have no intention of renaming the event the ‘Grand Slam of Farts’ as some have suggested,” Hearn added.

It’s not the first time a sport has been rocked by flatulence.

Former snooker player Bill Werbeniuk let rip during a World Championship match at the Crucible in Sheffield before turning round to an elderly woman in the crowd and asking: “Was that you?”