Jenkins given 11-year ban for darts match-fixing

Darts player Andy Jenkins has been banned for 11 years and fined more than £17,000 for match-fixing.

A Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) disciplinary committee found Jenkins, 54, guilty of fixing 12 matches in which he was involved between February 2022 and July 2023.

Jenkins had denied match-fixing but admitted placing 88 bets on matches between March 2022 and May 2023.

For that, he 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.

Jenkins reached the semi-finals of the PDC World Championship in 2007, losing to eventual winner Raymond van Barneveld, and has won 15 career titles.

John Pierce, director of enforcement at the Gambling Commission, which worked with the DRA on the case, said: "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 unit will continue to work closely with partners such as the Darts Regulation Authority to identify and prevent match-fixing."