The DRA, News, Information

The DRA's challenge is to ensure good governance within Darts. Playing standards, commercial revenues and the reputation of the game are undoubtedly in the ascendancy.

The challenge for the current Committee is to ensure good governance within Darts. Playing standards, commercial revenues and the reputation of the game are undoubtedly in the ascendancy. Professional Darts has never been more popular. It is the responsibility of the DRA to protect and enhance that position both within Darts and outside.

The DRA is the Governing Body of Professional Darts. Through management of the drug testing programme, review of DRA rules, disciplinary hearings and its many other functions the DRA is committed to protect that good name for the sake of everyone involved in Darts; players, officials, sponsors, media, fans and spectators alike.

Schedule 6 Gambling Act 2005:

The DRA have now been added to schedule 6 effective as of December 2017. This means that they are now a recognised SGB under the act and the Gambling Commission can share information with them.

DRA Contacts:

The DRA
Moore Tibbits Solicitors,
34 High Street,
Warwick,
Warwickshire, CV34 4BE
Email: [email protected]

Correspondence for hearings and referrals
Chair of the Disciplinary Committee,
Darts Regulation Authority,
58 St Marys Crescent,
Hendon,
London NW4 4LH
Email: [email protected]

The DRA Board of Directors who meet quarterly are:

Chairman: Mr Nigel Mawer QPM

Email: [email protected] Mobile: +44 (0) 7973 989986

Nigel left the Metropolitan Police Service in 2011 where he was a Detective Chief Superintendent in the Specialist Crime Directorate based at New Scotland Yard. He now works as a specialist advisor in the areas of sport regulation, integrity in sport, anti-corruption, economic and e-crime.

As well as being the Chair of the DRA he is also the Vice Chairman of the WPBSA and deals with all discipline and corruption issues relating to snooker. He has extensive experience in dealing with sport integrity issues. He is a member of the Sports Betting Group and the Sports Betting Integrity Forum. He is a Sport Resolutions UK Panel of Arbitrators Special Member.

He was formerly the Head of Economic and Specialist Crime at New Scotland Yard where he on some of the most sensitive enquiries conducted by Scotland Yard. In 2010 he ran the corruption enquiry into members of the Pakistani Cricket Team.

He was awarded the Queens Police Medal for Distinguished Police Service in the 2009 Queens Birthday Honours. He has an MA in Individual and Organisational Development from Westminster University and he is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.

Vice Chairman: Mr Tim Ollerenshaw

Email: [email protected] Address: Moore Tibbits Solicitors, 34 High Street, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV34 4BE

Tim Ollerenshaw has spent many years in the legal profession (and has held a number of disciplinary positions in the sports field). He uses his considerable experience as chair of the Disciplinary Appeals Panel.

Tim also leads on the drug testing programme for the DRA working closely with regulatory authorities and the DRA’s medical expert to ensure that Darts stays at the forefront of all developments in this hugely important area. Tim is passionate about sport, as a player, administrator and spectator.

Director: Mike Titmus

Mike’s career was spent in the Brewing Industry starting in 1958 and lasting for 38 years with what became known as Allied Breweries and then eventually Carlsberg-Tetley. Mike held several positions at Managing Director level finishing with the MD’s job at Carlsberg-Tetley South where he was based at the famous Romford Brewery managing the free-trade business.

Throughout his career Mike dealt with many hundreds of clubs and pubs that had dartboards and appreciated the value of darts as a sponsorship vehicle for the company’s brands, doing deals for Skol and Double Diamond with initially the BDO and later the PDC.

Throughout this time Mike had a great affection for the sport of darts and in March 2000, after retiring from Carlsberg-Tetley, he became Chairman of the PDC and along with the then Board he restructured the company as part of a long-term PDC strategy plan which led directly to the appointment of Barry Hearn as Chairman in August 2001. Mike was appointed the first Chairman of the DRA in November 2002.

Director: Ritchie Gardner

Ritchie is a former professional player. Some of his many achievements in the sport of darts include victory in the World Pairs Championship in 1988 with Jocky Wilson, he was selected as an England International for 5 years, ranked in the World Top 16 for seven consecutive years and winning numerous other international and national open titles.

Ritchie very much brings the player’s perspective to the DRA Council having experienced the pressures and challenges of competitive darts. In addition to his continuing love for darts Ritchie also takes a huge interest in golf and football.

Director: Jake Marsh

Jake Marsh has been working in investigations and risk management for many years having started his career working for the private investigations firm of Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner. This has seen him investigate and advise clients on fraud and corruption issues across a wide-range of sectors including finance, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, and sport. He has been a lead investigator in numerous sport industry cases covering football player transfers and club ownership, doping, and match-fixing.

In the last few years he has specialised exclusively in certain areas of sport governance, namely betting and match-fixing. This sees him working on a daily basis with governing bodies and rights holders to protect their competitions from betting fraud and match manipulation through education, intelligence, and investigation. His experience in sport integrity will be of great value to the DRA.

Jake has an MA from King’s College London and the Advanced Certificate in Sport Governance from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA). He currently works for an international sports media and content firm as their Head of Integrity.

The DRA Disciplinary Committee

Chairman: Nigel Mawer QPM
Committee Members: Ritchie Gardner, Jake Marsh

Where possible hearings will take place on the same day as Board meetings. The DRA Disciplinary Committee are keen to speed up the process of discipline and where there is an allegation of the breach of the DRA rules.

Once the necessary facts have been established the player or member will have 14 days to respond, shortly after which the DRA Disciplinary Committee will hold a hearing to deal with the allegation.

DRA Referrals

Any PDPA Member who receives a DRA referral must contact Alan Warriner-Little CEO of the PDPA immediately so you are aware of what you need to do. You are also required by the DRA rules, GDPR and confidentiality to inform the DRA that the PDPA can be involved in your case, you must do this directly to the DRA.

NOTE: If this is not done the PDPA will be unable to assist you, attend a hearing/appeal, be involved in a conference call, receive any information on the case or submit any evidence on your behalf.

Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 07798 693998
PDPA Office: 01228 594273

The DRA Disciplinary Appeal Hearings

These will be chaired by Tim Ollerenshaw sitting with two independent people not directly associated with the Board of the DRA. The player has the right to object to any of the appeals panel and must do so to the appeals panel in writing at that time, if this is the case Sport Resolutions will advise on the new independent person.

The DRA Disciplinary Committee are keen to speed up the process of discipline and where there is an allegation of the breach of the DRA rules, once the necessary facts have been established the player or member will have 14 days to respond, shortly after which the DRA Disciplinary Committee will hold a hearing to deal with the allegation.

The appeal can be as a meeting with all present involved or as a paperwork meeting which is the appeals panels choice after reading the evidence provided.

Fines

To pay a DRA fine CLICK HERE

Suspensions:

Here is the current updated list of players who are suspended after DRA hearings.
2015
Ben Horan
2016
Tommy Legius
2017
Sion Thomas, Jordan Matthews
2018
Chris Wilson, Darren Mawer, Baran Oezdemir, Dennis Verhaegen, Ryan Cowans, Chris Millward, Glen Honore

DRA Website

Link to the current DRA Website CLICK HERE

DRA News Reel

Circular  – Drug Testing in Darts Update on Beta Blockers

1 – Below is the official announcement by the DRA on Beta Blockers
2 – The DRA Rule 7.1.2 (ii)
3 – User friendly terms of what this means for members

1- Since 6th January 2019 unapproved use of Beta-Blockers has been subject to disciplinary rules (as then amended). Given the complexity of processing Therapeutic Use Exemption Applications and other technical procedures required which flow from these rule changes, the DRA has been in detailed communication with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) to implement these changes. Unfortunately, we have been unable to finalise our procedures with UKAD and this has proved more difficult than originally anticipated. Accordingly, and so that testing can continue the DRA Board of Directors has made the following decision:

The application of section 7.1.2 (ii) of the DRA Rules is suspended until further notice. Please note that this suspension does not affect your obligation to inform the DRA if you are currently prescribed Beta-Blockers. It also does not affect your obligations in respect of other medications and TUEs.

We remind all players that it is your responsibility to have any medication you use checked to see if it or any of its ingredients are prohibited. If any player is unsure or has any questions regarding any medications (including Beta-Blockers), please contact us using the email addresses or a telephone number below.

You can also check your medication on the Global DRO website: CLICK HERE

If you need any further assistance or help, please contact us using the following email addresses: [email protected] and [email protected] Alternatively, you can speak to Tim Ollerenshaw or Monika Krtenova using this following telephone number +44(0)1926 674544 – Dated 3rd June 2019

2 – DRA Rule 7.1.2 (ii) For the purpose of these Disciplinary Rules the following shall amount to “Misconduct”: a breach of the DRA’s Rules and Regulations, including and in addition (without limitation):

(ii) the unauthorised use by a Player of Beta-Blockers [in or out of competition] for incidents occurring on or after 6th January 20191;

3 – What does this mean
NOTE (a)
Players will still need to check all Medications and will still need a TUE Certificate for all prohibited substances/medications.
NOTE (b)
If a player is on Beta Blockers, they are obliged to inform the DRA but can use this medication with a TUE form, We do not recommend their using Beta-Blockers, if there is an alternative medication available, but it will not be treated as a Disciplinary matter currently, if they are tested and found to have Beta-Blockers in their system.

They do not need a TUE Form for Beta-Blockers now as there is currently no procedure in place to deal with Beta-Blockers TUE Forms (this will obviously change once such a procedure has been adopted). At the moment, their only obligation in respect of Beta-Blockers is to inform the DRA.

If you have any issues, comments or queries please refer to the above correspondence or contact your PDPA

The 2019 list of Registered Agents

The 2019 list of DRA Registered Agents can be found here

The DRA Rules are now available in German and Dutch

The German translation of the DRA Rules can be found here
The Dutch translation of the DRA Rules can be found here

The DRA and Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson – Press statement

At a hearing that took place on 11^th January 2019 before the DRA Disciplinary Committee, Gerwyn Price was found to be in breach of the DRA Rules in the Grand Slam of Darts (GSOD) Quarter-Final match with Simon Whitlock played on 16^th November 2018 and the and in the GSOD Final match with Gary Anderson played on 18^th November 2018. He also admitted to a breach of the DRA Rules for putting inappropriate posts on social media. Gary Anderson was found to be in breach of the rules for pushing his opponent in the GSOD Final.

Gerwyn Price: The Committee found that Mr Price had brought the sport into disrepute by his actions and that they amounted to gamesmanship in his matches with Mr Whitlock and Mr Anderson. Mr Price’s actions were very serious and went beyond what was acceptable in his celebrations and he was overly aggressive in his behaviour in his matches. It was decided that his actions were a cynical attempt to put off his opponents to gain him an advantage.

These actions were in the Quarter-Final and Final of a prestigious televised event and drew an unprecedented number of complaints from members of the public.

In making the decision on sanction the Committee took into account that in October 2017 Mr Price was found to be in breach of the rules for gamesmanship involving the use of aggressive behaviour. The Committee also took into account that Mr Price had previously been fined and warned as to his future behaviour regarding an inappropriate social media post.

The sanction imposed on Mr Price is:

For Bringing the sport into disrepute and gamesmanship in the GSOD Quarter-Final Mr Price is to pay a fine of £8,000

For Bringing the sport into disrepute and gamesmanship in the GSOD Final Mr Price is to pay a fine of £12,000

In relation to 1. And 2. Above Mr Price will also be suspended from attending or competing in DRA sanction events for a period of three months. This will be suspended for a period of six months until 11^th July 2019.
For inappropriate posts on social media Mr Price is to pay a fine of £1,500 and warned as to his future behaviour.

This means that should Mr Price be found guilty of any breach of the DRA Rules up to and including the 11^th July 2019, the Disciplinary Committee will, unless there are extreme mitigating circumstances, impose the three-month suspension in addition to any penalty for the new offence

Gary Anderson: The Committee found that Mr Anderson was in breach of the rules when he pushed Mr Price during the GSOD Final.

The Committee’ view was that Mr Anderson was significantly provoked during the match by his opponent that resulted in what is clearly a non- aggressive push by Mr Anderson on Mr Price. It is the view of the Committee that it is not acceptable for a Player to lay hands on another Player, irrespective of the provocation.

The sanction imposed on Mr Anderson is a formal warning. Both Players have 14 days to appeal the decision of the Tribunal

DRA Rules Revised for 2019

The DRA Rules have been subject to a review and have been significantly updated for 2019 to reflect the modern sport. The revised rules will be posted on the website soon. The revised DRA Rules for 2019 can be found here.

DRA Registered Agents Renewal Process 2019

All DRA Registered Agents are required to renew their registration by 31st January 2019. The renewal application form can be found here and the letter to explain the process can be found here.

DRA Chairmans’ Report 2018

The DRA Chairman’s Report 2018 can be found here.

Grand Slam of Darts Final

The DRA can confirm that the PDC has referred the Grand Slam of Darts Final for investigation.

The DRA will review match footage and statements from tournament officials. There have also been a large number of complaints from members of the public that will be considered. The DRA Chairman will decide as to whether there is a case for either Player to answer for a breach or breaches of the DRA Rules.

Neither the PDC nor the DRA will be making any further comment regarding this match whilst it is subject to the DRA Disciplinary process.

DRA Disciplinary Case of Note

In February 2018 Gilbert Ulang and Masumi Chino were found to have a case to answer in relation to the manipulation for betting purposes of their respective matches with Kevin Simm and Tengku Shah at the PDC World Championships at Alexandra Palace in December 2016. A hearing was held in London on 23rd May 2018 and on 5th June 2018 Masumi Chino was found not to be in breach of the DRA Betting Rules.

Gilbert Ulang was found that he had breached the DRA Betting Rules by manipulating the outcome of his match with Kevin Simm played on 18th December 2016 for betting purposes. On 14th August 2018 The Disciplinary Committee suspended Gilbert Ulang for a period of seven years from 18 December 2016 until midnight on 17 December 2023. He was also ordered to pay £2,500 as a contribution towards costs of the DRA. There is no suggestion whatsoever that his opponent Kevin Simm was aware of the match manipulation that took place.

The full finding of the Disciplinary Committee can be found here.

The full decision on sanction can be found here.