BARRY HEARN has teased that a major announcement over the future of darts will come “very soon”.
The PDC president revealed in his Netflix series that Saudi Arabian boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh is keen on getting involved in the sport.
GettyBarry Hearn has teased an update on the future of darts in Saudi Arabia[/caption]
AlamyTurki Alalshikh is keen on getting involved with darts[/caption]
Alalshikh, 44, has already taken over the boxing world and invested in snooker.
It has also been revealed that he was in negotiations with both Barry and Eddie Hearn about buying a stake in Matchroom Sport.
Hearn Sr has now admitted that news will come regarding darts‘ future soon.
Although he did suggest at some reservations over Saudi Arabia’s alcohol laws.
Hearn told Sky Sports: “If you can’t drink in a country where we must respect their traditions and their laws, we don’t drink. Or we don’t go.
“And if you don’t want to go, don’t go. But by the way, watch this space.
“Very soon, you’ll hear something about Saudi, they’ll go, oh my god, where is this? Where is this journey going to end?
“And the answer is, the beautiful answer is, I have no idea. But I know it’s got a long journey ahead of it.
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Hearn, 77, did admit that he was initially worried about the Saudi messing with the sport.
However, he has insisted that Al-Sheikh has been able to boost the publicity of sports with his touch.
This means that there could be a new darts tournament with a twist, such as a change to the iconic board.
An example of this was the golden ball worth 20 points added to a snooker rack once a player hit a 147.
He added: “And you know what, the purists out there, like, I almost put myself in a purist when I heard about the golden ball from Turki, I was shaking.
“Oh no, no. Don’t start messing with it. It’s had more publicity than the rest of the tournament all together.
“And it’s all the publicity about the re-ad season, the goals, the ball’s got the name on.
If you don’t want to go, don’t go. But by the way, watch this space.
Barry Hearn
“He’s a smart man. And sometimes we get restricted by the lack of our own imagination.
“And you can bet your bottom dollar, if and when we do something in Saudi, there’ll be a few twists on it.
“I have no idea what he’s going to say. But I do know what I’m going to say. Yes, thank you.
“It’s a clean sheet of paper. You know, as you quite rightly say, we’re not going to be restricted.
“Obviously, we want to make sure that it’s credible. If it’s part of a series, for example, it has to be credible.
“But we’re not going to be tied up with, you know, all we can do that because there’s no reason why we will look at everything.
“And it will all be, you know, you’ve got to accept this. It will all be money-oriented.
“The one thing about Turki Alalshikh, his excellency, is he doesn’t walk away.”
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