Nathan Aspinall has called on the PDC to introduce five-year banning orders following numerous incidents at the World Darts Championship, as well as other major tournaments.
The Stockport-born thrower will face "Hawkeye" Kevin Doets at the Alexandra Palace on Monday as he aims to secure a last-16 clash against Luke Humphries.
It has been a relatively straightforward route to the third round for Aspinall, who recorded a 3-1 win over Lourence Ilagan in his opener before seeing off America's Leonard Gates in straight sets.
But like many other players on the PDC circuit, the 34-year-old has been affected by an on-stage issue "every player hates", according to Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko.
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"The booing is not a problem, but the whistling... the concentration is missed in the moment, and I think every player hates it," said Pietreczko following his 3-2 defeat to Dave Chisnall on Saturday.
Aspinall agrees with Pietreczko. In fact, he has called for five-year bans from darts tournaments for anybody caught whistling in the crowd.
“I’ve said in EuroTours, in my on-stage interviews, will you just stop whistling, enjoy the darts, stop being muppets," he said in an interview with SunSport. “It’s then gone over Instagram and TikTok, saying: ‘Nathan lashes out at the crowd…’
“People will see that but does that encourage them? Because they know they’re winding the players up.
“You sit in silence, you don’t do anything, it’ll continue. You speak out, you say something, it’ll continue.
“How do you monitor 10,000 people from sticking their fingers in their mouth to whistle? So, what can be done? I think the people that get caught shouldn’t just get kicked out, they should get banned for say five years.
“Something where they’re going to feel the effects of what they’ve done. Then, once a few of them start doing it, hopefully they’ll go: ‘I’m absolutely gutted, I can’t go to the darts, I got a five-year ban from whistling, trust me, don’t do it.’
“I bet it might take a couple of years but maybe that could be something," added Aspinall.
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Aspinall believes things would eventually change if the banning orders were put in place.
“A lot of darts games are determined by the crowd," he said. "The standard is that close. Missing one dart at double 16 on a 109 could lose you that game. And then some k***head whistles. Unless you tape everyone’s mouths shut when they walk in."
“I just think that if you give people bans once they get kicked out then it might change things," Aspinall added.
Back in February, the PDC released a statement on crowd behaviour following issues during a Premier League night in Glasgow.
"The PDC wishes to strongly reiterate that it does not condone any behaviour which can disrupt an event, such as whistling or booing when players are throwing," the statement read.
"Every player goes on stage with the intention of performing to the best of their ability and providing an entertaining spectacle for all fans, whether in the venue or watching worldwide.
"As per the terms and conditions of entry to events, spectators who act inappropriately can be removed from the venue."
Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship
Jack Kenmare