Darts “Lower alcohol limit”
Darts Association wants to introduce alcohol controls
As of: 1:03 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Tunnel vision can be helpful when playing darts
Quelle: Getty Images/SEAN GLADWELL
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Darts players generally don’t look like they’re doping. But the booming sport apparently has a problem with alcohol and medication abuse. The German association is now taking action.
The German Darts Association (DDV) is planning to introduce alcohol controls for players next season. The association explained to the “Sportschau” that the “most realistic scenario” is currently a “gradual lowering of the alcohol limit with appropriate controls”. Although alcohol is not on the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) prohibited list, the DDV sees a “certain performance-enhancing potential” in its consumption.
The “Sportschau” report indicated that the sport of darts has a problem with alcohol and doping abuse. “In percentage terms, there appear to be more positive findings in darts than in other sports,” explains doping researcher Mario Thevis in the report. At the German Masters 2017, the two finalists, Tobias Seibert and Holger Frommann, tested positive for the banned substances methylphenidate and amphetamine; both performance-enhancing stimulants.
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According to the ARD doping editorial team, there was another suspected case at this year’s German championships, which the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) confirmed. There were no NADA doping controls in darts between 2020 and 2022. On the one hand because of the corona pandemic, on the other hand because of the lack of infrastructure. In the meantime, NADA told “Sportschau” that improvements had been made.
Top players are said to be alcoholics
In the summer, Jochen Graudenz, who is active in the Bundesliga among other things, spoke critically about his sport in an interview with “dartsnews.de”. The German player described darts as “a really dirty sport” and claimed that “it feels like 70 percent of the top stars are alcoholics”. In his opinion, no one plays well when sober because they are too nervous. “And what is the best way to solve the problem? By simply getting drunk,” Graudenz said at the time.
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The World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London begins on December 15th. The organizer, the World Darts Federation PDC, is guided by the anti-doping regulations of the United Kingdom, in which alcohol is not explicitly mentioned.
