Darts boss: "Olympics is a crime against athletes"
For many athletes, the Olympic Games are the biggest dream they ever want to fulfill. But not everyone shares this exuberant praise. On the contrary, German darts official von Moltke doesn't have a good opinion of the mega-event.
Darts official Werner von Moltke has no ambitions to see his sport at the Olympic Games. Instead, he sharply criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC). "The Olympics is a crime against the athletes," said the managing director of the Professional Darts Corporation for German-speaking countries (PDC Europe) eight days before the start of the World Championship (December 15 to January 3, 2024).
Darts had "made it without the Olympics", continued von Moltke. "We have reached a level of importance that is crazy. We're not just a phenomenon in Germany. It's crazy what has come out of this small sport." The participation of Germany's current number one Gabriel Clemens, for example, would be great for the player, but he shouldn't be told "that the Olympics are a great thing". It is only "for the IOC and the TV stations every four years", explained von Moltke. Specifically, he denounced the fact that despite billions in revenue from the Games, there is no prize money for the athletes and they do not share enough in the success.
Are Olympic champions the losers?
As the son of former sports official Werner von Moltke, he has observed canoeists, judoka and rowers, for example. They had "sacrificed their whole lives for nothing. Some have become Olympic champions, but apart from that they have sacrificed everything and have had zero participation in their success," said von Moltke.
Instead, it works with privately organized sports and leagues, such as football, NBA basketball, Formula 1 or golf. "If you look at the highest-earning athletes on the Forbes list: There is no track and field athlete, no swimmer, no gymnast," said von Moltke: "The classic Olympic sports are the losers of the past 30, 40 years."
The World Darts Championship begins on December 15 in London. A total of 96 participants will be competing, with prize money of 2.5 million pounds (2.92 million euros) up for grabs. The final will take place on January 3. As last year's semi-finalist, Clemens is one of the extended favorites. "Lives can change. It's simply the biggest and most important tournament," said the 40-year-old from Saarland. He will play at Alexandra Palace for the first time on December 21 (10 p.m.) and will travel to London on December 19.
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The managing director of PDC Europe, Werner von Moltke, strongly criticized the IOC, voicing his belief that the Olympics is a "crime against athletes" for darts. Despite the world championships, he believes darts has thrived without the Olympics and participating in the Olympic Games would only benefit the IOC and TV stations, not the athletes themselves. Additionally, von Moltke argued that classic Olympic sports like track and field, swimming, and gymnastics are the "losers" in terms of financial compensation, as shown by the absence of such athletes on the Forbes highest-earning athletes list.
Source: www.ntv.de
