May 26 2009
Doping Intrigue Prompts Barney to Quit British Dart Organization
The British five-time Dart World Champion Raymond van Barneveld admitted that he quit the British Darts Organization (BDO) after they have accused him of doping which includes steroids and other banned substances. Most popularly known as the Dutch Destroyer, Raymond van Barneveld was disappointed with British Darts Organization that he even attacked them for trying to stop him from playing with Phil Taylor. He even said that the BDO even banned his wife Silvia from attending events.
Last week, Barney finally signed a £200,000 deal for darts manufacturers Unicorn. He left the British Darting Organization and decided to join the Professional Dart Corporation in 2006.
He published an explosive new book entitled ‘Barney- The Eye of the Tiger’ that attacked and criticized the former world champion and England captain Martin Adams as well as the British Darting Organization Master of Ceremonies Martin Fitzmaurice.
According to Van Barneveld, Fitzmaurice used all the opportunity that he can have to make him look bad. He even said that he thinks Fitzmaurice was hateful because he is paid much less compared to the dart players. He also accused Fitzmaurice of jealousy that has led to a negative influence. He said that in 2000, Fitzmaurice accused him publicly of using cocaine which he thought was due to his habitual going to the toilet before a tournament begins. But according to him, he never even smoked a cigarette much more cocaine. He then took a drugs and doping test at the PDC world championship after his victory. He was glad and proud that he tested negative for cocaine, steroids and other banned substances.
Adams who was furious with Barney because of leaving BDO for PDC was also criticized. He even questioned whether Adams would win the 2007 world title if he had not left the BDO.
In 1999, Barney accused the British Darting Organization for trying to stop him from playing with Phil Taylor in a head-to-head of the rival codes. According to him, Phil wanted to compete against him because he had won the Embassy twice. The first competition initially offered all or nothing from the £100,000 prize but then eventually they settled for 60-40 division.
He said that the BDO threatened him with exclusion from the 2000 Embassy games because the BDO didn’t want him to play as a PDC player. He was also very dismayed to find out that even his wife Sylvia was not allowed during the 2007 Lakeside competitions.
As of now, Barney is very glad after the well paid deal he had with Unicorn. He already consulted the ex-Government secret agent missile expert “UniBoffin” to help him with his dart problems. He believes that joining Unicorn will help him to find the right set-up and hopefully to challenge Phil and regain his world champion title again.
According to Unicorn’s Edwards Lowry, they are going to assist Barney in all possible ways in order to bring him back to the top of his game. He believes that all Barney needs is just a bit more support that will take him to the top again.
