PDC Issue Statement On Nathan Aspinall After Saudi Masters Crowd Row
The PDC has responded to Nathan Aspinall after he made comments about the first darts event being held in Saudi Arabia.
Aspinall is one of eight representatives competing in the debut tournament, where the winner will take home £30,000 from the £100,000 prize pot.
The event, part of the World 2026 Series of Darts, has been put on conversations between Barry Hearn and the nation's General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh. As well as Aspinall, Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Gerwyn Price and Stephen Bunting are all competing across the two days.
Matches were shown on ITV but fans did not enjoy overall presentation, with walk-ons barely getting a reaction and the atmosphere not quite what it normally is.
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Aspinall beat Lourence Ilagan 6-1 in his first fixture and afterwards, gave an honest assessment of darts' debut in Saudi and how "different" it was - with his comments generating headlines.
"There's definitely a long way to go," 'The Asp' told Darts Now when asked if it could be the beginning of a long relationship between the PDC and Saudi.
"It was certainly different. I'm not stupid. I feel like they wasn't all there off their own accord shall we say and it was quite a small venue.
"Everything needs to start somewhere. As long as people walk away from this week and go, 'I really enjoyed the darts' and it gets good coverage - with the Saudi Arabia press talk highly of the darts then there's no reason why not."
Aspinall returns to action on Tuesday when he takes on Man Lok Leung in the quarter-finals. But before that, the PDC issued a statement as a way to clarify Aspinall's remarks and the point he was attempting to make.
In a statement released to The Telegraph, The PDC said: “Nathan was reflecting on the fact that this was a first-of-its-kind darts event in the region, with many attendees experiencing live darts for the first time.
“As with any new market, the atmosphere and crowd make-up can differ from long-established darts events such as those in the UK and Europe. All spectators attended as ticket holders or guests, and we were delighted to see such strong interest in the PDC’s debut in Saudi Arabia.”
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Former world champion Price was also asked for his view on the crowd participation and the fact that there was no alcohol - normally a staple for UK crowds at the World Darts Championship.
However he believes those watching were more engaged and were "itching for big things" to happen.
“They were watching and engaged in the darts. A couple of times when I walked back after my visit, I just looked out into the crowd and they were all fully focused, watching and engaged in the darts.
"Sometimes in other arenas they’re there for a good drink and a party atmosphere and sometimes they’re not even watching the darts. Here they were more involved in watching the darts.
“I think the crowd are itching for big things to happen and for them to get involved. That’s probably the reason why I went for the 170 rather than set it up."
A new twist has been put on the usual darts format for the events, as anyone who hits a nine-darter will be pocket a whopping £74,700.
They will then have the opportunity to throw a bonus dart at the bullseye and doing so will result in the player doubling their money to collect around £149,000.
Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship
Josh Lawless