SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Andy Jenkins has been banned from all Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) events for 11 years after an investigation concluded he had been involved in match fixing.
The UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) supported the investigation which confirmed that the 54-year-old player had fixed 12 matches, resulting in a fine of £17,580.03.
The illegal activity took place in matches between 22 February 2022 and 5 July 2023 at the Modus Super Series in Portsmouth. The UKGC”s investigation concluded that Jenkins had purposely manipulated the outcome of his matches and passed this information on to bettors.
Jenkins initially denied this, but did however admit using his own account to place 88 bets on matches between 17 March 2022 and 4 May 2023. This breached a DRA rule that prevents any player from betting on any darts event at all, similar to strict policies in other sports like football.
John Pierce, SBIU’s Director of enforcement, commented: “This case sends a strong and unequivocal message to all sportspeople – if you fix matches, you are likely to be caught and face serious consequences.
“Betting customers in Britain deserve confidence that the markets they engage with are fair and free from corruption.
“Our sports betting intelligence will continue to work closely with partners such as the darts regulation authority to identify and prevent match-fixing.”
Integrity in professional darts
A popular name in the sport over the years, Jenkins reached the semi-finals of the PDC World Championship back in 2007, and also has won 15 career titles.
For his involvement in match fixing, Jenkins has also received an additional 12-month suspension which will run concurrently with his other sanctions, the DRA said.
The ban, which has been backdated to November 2023, will prevent him from playing in or being involved in any way with any DRA event until 15 November 2034.
There is no suggestion that the other players in the matches in question were involved in any way. This is, however, not the only case around integrity in darts in recent memory.
A similar penalty was handed to professional darts player Prakash Jiwa earlier this year for the same reasons as Jenkins. ‘The Apache’ is no longer allowed to compete in any DRA events until 6 November 2031.
Meanwhile, it was only December last year that the DRA had to ban players Leighton Bennett and Billy Warriner for several serious betting-related breaches also at the Modus Super Series. These offences again resulted in both players being suspended and fined.
