Mansell set to not appeal fine imposed by DRA: ‘I considered appealing the DRA decision, but decided against this, so the issue could be put to bed’

Mickey Mansell recently had a DRA fine imposed on him for not playing to the best of his ability seemingly during his World Championship tie with Jim Long.

‘The Clonoe Cyclone’ who was a ProTour winner for the first time in 2018 was fined £500 for this. This is after in his clash with Long he averaged just 75.22 to the Canadian’s 75.33. The DRA as a result seemed fit to fine him under Rule 3.8 which dictates: ‘Each player shall perform and compete to the best of his ability in each Match and/or Tournament in which he competes and will complete all matches.' He has released a statement now regarding this and has said that he has not appealed due to wanting to just put the issue to bed. “I have been playing darts at a professional level for the last nine years and my ambition has always been to be the best darts player that I can be. I realise that I am very lucky to be playing a game that I love for my profession; but this has not come by chance, I have had to put a lot of effort in to get to where I am today. “I spend a considerable amount of time on the road away from my family during the darts season. I have given my all in every tournament whether that be here at home in Ireland or on the PDC tour and entered with the mindset that if I play my best darts I can compete with anybody. “My recent fine is both frustrating and disappointing for me not least because I feel that I have let both myself and my family down. This however had nothing to do with lack of effort or desire to do well. The only thing that I am guilty of is not playing as well as I know that I can and not capitalising on a good position that I put myself in. “There is no suggestion that I did anything that was corrupt and my integrity was not called into question by the PDC/DRA. I considered appealing the DRA decision, but decided against this, so the issue could be put to bed and I could move on and continue to play darts to the best of my ability!