Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen’s stance on 18-year-old’s eight-year ban made clear

Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen both agree with the severe punishment meted out to Leighton Bennett over a betting scandal.

Former darts prodigy Bennett, 18, once hailed as ‘the next Phil Taylor‘, has been hit with an eight-year ban from the sport after being found guilty of 10 counts of match fixing – one of which saw him miss the board altogether. He was suspended in August following the detection of suspicious betting patterns in several of his matches during the Modus Super Series in September 2023.

It emerged that offences occurred in four matches involving the young player, who was also found guilty of providing inside information about games, failing to assist in an investigation, and signing a contract with an unregistered manager. Reacting to news of Bennett’s ban, Van Gerwen voiced his agreement with the harshness of the penalty, believing it would be beneficial for the future of darts.

“I completely agree. I’m not shocked by it, I think it’s totally justified,” the 35 year old told Dutch outlet Sportnieuws. “I think more things happened after that that couldn’t go through. That it added up and they want to deal with this rock hard. How can they do that? By punishing rock hard. This sets an example.”

World No. 1 Humphries, 29, echoed these sentiments, expressing his satisfaction that match-fixing was being dealt with stringently. “Silly, silly boy. We want to ban that kind of thing from the sport. This shouldn’t even occur to you to do,” he said.

“If you also deny it and are found guilty, then you have to live with the harshest measures. Hopefully this will keep all match-fixing players away. Integrity is important in our sport.”

Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld was on the same page too. “A tough, but right punishment,” the Dutch legend said. “I quite understand that when you’re eighteen you can sometimes be rather thoughtless.

“But if you let yourself be so easily persuaded to give away games, there have been so many warnings that this would be dealt with harshly. Maybe the punishment should have been life in prison. That would totally shock the dart world. Then everyone would think. It’s not right, it shouldn’t be and it can’t be justified.”

Some, however, disagreed with decision, including Daily Star Sport columnist, and four-time World Darts Championship semi-finalist, James Wade. “Now, I don’t know all the details but Leighton has been found guilty and he should be punished. However, I just think the eight-year ban is harsh,” he wrote.

“With this ban at just 18-years-old, his professional darts career is effectively over. He has gone from darts prodigy to losing everything based on a misguided decision. I don’t personally know Leighton, but I hope there is a duty of care in place and someone is keeping an eye on him.”

Hailing from Lincoln, Bennett was once touted as the future of British darts. Known as ‘Boom boom’ on the oche, he made waves by defeating Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor at a Frankfurt event when he was just 13 in 2019, the same year he became the youngest-ever BDO youth champion.

However, he has since struggled to meet expectations. Earlier this year, he secured a PDC Tour Card and pledged to compete with teen sensation Luke Littler. But his ban has thrown a wrench into his plans.

Alongside fellow pro Billy Warriner, who received a 10-year ban after confessing to 19 out of 21 charges against him, Bennett has been instructed to pay £8,100 in costs. The duo have until December 14 to contest the decision.