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Read Full BioFormer PDC World Championship semi-finalist Andy Jenkins received an 11-year ban from professional darts earlier this week after being found guilty of match-fixing by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA).
The DRA penalized the professional darts veteran following a disciplinary hearing, which concluded that he had fixed 12 Modus Super Series matches between February 2022 and July 2023.
The 54-year-old was also slapped with a fine of £17,580.03, accounting for his admission to placing 88 bets on darts matches during the same period. Despite Jenkins vehemently denying the match-fixing element, the DRA committee declared they had found sufficient evidence to sanction him for both manipulation and betting violations.
Although the ban is backdated to November 2023, Jenkins is now barred from participating in or being involved with any DRA-sanctioned events until 15 November 2034.
Jenkins Fall From Grace: From World Championship Semi to Modus Match-Fixing
Once a prominent figure in the darts world, Jenkins secured 15 titles during a successful career. Nevertheless, he is best known for reaching the 2007 PDC World Championship semi-finals, where he lost 6-0 to the eventual winner, Raymond van Barneveld.
The Darts Regulation Authority investigation was supported by the UK’s Gambling Commission’s Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU), which shared telling data of Jenkins’ infringements that proved vital to the case.
In addition, Jenkins was also found to have relayed insider information to bettors and his associates, which proved to be an incisive factor in the DRA’s final ruling.
You Will Be Caught, Warn UKGC
John Pierce, Director of Enforcement at the Gambling Commission, repeated warnings, saying, “This case sends a strong and unequivocal message to all sportspeople – if you fix matches, you are likely to be caught and face serious consequences.”
“Betting customers in Britain deserve confidence that the markets they engage with are fair and free from corruption,” Pierce added. He then emphasized that the Commission and all its partners are determined to identify wagering manipulation across all sporting disciplines.
Jenkins now has until 6 May 2025 to appeal the decision. However, the ruling marks one of the most severe penalties ever handed down in darts. Without any new evidence to counter these charges, any appeal is unlikely to overturn the DRA’s decision.
The DRA believes that the gravity of the imposed penalty shows that the regulatory authority will punish any darts player caught in nefarious betting activities, no matter how prominent they are on the world stage.
