Coronavirus: Financial support will be given to players affected by the suspension of tournaments
The Professional Darts Players Association are financially supporting players affected by the suspension of tournaments due to the coronavirus outbreak.
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There have been no events staged on the PDC circuit since the Players Championship weekend of March 14-15 and the next scheduled tournament that has not yet been postponed is the Austrian Darts Open from May 1-3 on the European Tour.
Just like in every other sport put on hold around the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be no shortage of professional darts players facing financial difficulties - particularly those lower down the rankings - as they wait for the opportunities to earn prize money to return again.
However, the PDPA have announced they will assist the PDC Tour Card holders most in need during this crisis, including an emergency non-repayable £1000 to any player requiring of immediate financial assistance.
A joint statement from the PDC and PDPA outlined the following measures:
- An Immediate Emergency Fund of up to £1,000 for any Tour Card Holder in real need of immediate financial assistance. This fund is specifically for members who are currently suffering a real negative financial impact due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This applied-for payment will be non-repayable.
- A PDPA/PDC Hardship Fund for any Tour Card Holder who requires further financial support in the months ahead in the form of an advance against future prize money. The details for this fund will be forwarded to all Tour Card Holders in due course.
Last week the PDC chief executive Matt Porter admitted the calendar could suffer further postponements but vowed they'll stage European Tour and Players Championship events as soon as it's safe to do so.
He told The Darts Show Podcast: "I think it's fair to say that you can write off most of the next three months, that's going to be a difficult position to try and get anything up and running again.
"Whether the restrictions are relaxed at some point in the future and we're able to put events on - tour events for the players' benefit only in controlled situations with extremely limited numbers of people and certain health and safety regulations in place - that's just speculation.
"None of us know, but we're conscious of the fact that darts players are self-employed and that, technically, they're not really earning any sort of income at the moment.
"Some of them might be fortunate enough to have sponsors who are still paying them, but those who rely on prize money and exhibition income are going to be struggling.
"We'll speak to the PDPA about that and we don't want to see anybody fall off the radar in that respect - it's important that players are communicating with us if they do find themselves in a difficult position, and if we have to look at putting things together to help them through these times then so be it."
As far as the possibility of holding events in a more controlled environment behind closed doors once restrictions on movement and travel are lifted, Porter added: "In theory, darts can be played behind closed doors as long as there's two players and somebody to keep score.
"It could be possible, we'd obviously have to bear in mind Government advice and restrictions - would venues be open, what would the conditions be like?
"It's not impossible, but I don't think anything's going to be happening for a while."
The PDC and PDPA are in discussions over the PDC Order of Merit ranking system, with Porter adding: "We are looking at what we're doing with the rankings.
"It's not something we've come to any sort of decision over yet, we're in the early stages of disruption but obviously we will work with the PDPA, who are very good on the fairness and looking out for all the different categories of member.
"Although everybody's got a Tour Card on the main tour, not everybody's in the same boat; some people are extremely comfortable, others less so, some are defending a lot from two years ago, others less so.
"So we have to make sure that changes, if we make any at all, are completely transparent and fair for everybody. But hopefully if we can get as many events staged as possible, then we can still give players as much chance as possible to top their rankings up."
And in regards to the Premier League, Porter said: "We've announced that all the Premier League nights up to the end of April are postponed [and it's] more than likely the May ones will be as well but we're working through the challenges associated with those and we'll fit things back into our calendar as best we can, probably in the second half of 2020.
"So far, we've been fortunate in that we've been able to reschedule every night for a Thursday, which is good because I think people associate Thursdays with Premier League darts, so we can keep that continuity even if it does mean we're in the second half of the year.
"We don't want to go too late because of the other big events we have in the lead-up to Christmas, so we'll get as much done throughout the summer and early part of the autumn as we can.
"It is difficult. Venue availability is key, things have got to fit in geographically, we can't be in two places at once - we need time to build events and then take them down again afterwards - we've obviously got commitments to fans, broadcasters, sponsors, venues and all sorts of different stakeholders.
"We're working through it. Fortunately, we were a bit ahead of the game, we spoke to a lot of venues three or four weeks ago on this just to pre-empt it, so we've had back-up dates held for longer than perhaps other promoters have.
"It might be that a couple of events away from the top tier have to bite the bullet for this year, and that might be something we look at, because ultimately there's only so many weekends in the year. We hope to put on as much of it on as possible."
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