"He always said, 'My wife filled out those papers.' I think that's SO good" - Dutch sports host poked fun at Co Stompe tax scandal

René van der Gijp ia a well known part of sports coverage in Netherlands and also familiar to a certain Co Stompe. The former footballer is currently a regular on the talk show Vandaag Inside, but for years he was also active as a soccer analyst at RTL. One of the recurring topics, however, was remarkably not soccer, but ... darts.

In the podcast KieftJansenEgmondGijp (from 38.50), Van der Gijp recently looked back on those days. He talked about how previews of Europa League matches were rarely about soccer. "Not once did we talk about matches in previews, only about other things," he laughed. According to Van der Gijp, such a thing wouldn't be possible nowadays. "With Hélène (Hendriks, ed.) you can only talk about those matches for an hour. I think that's so good, while that's actually not possible. Some meaningless Europa League match ... you just can't talk about that for an hour."

Instead of serious soccer analyses, light-hearted topics often came up. One of those topics was darts, especially Co Stompé. At the time, the former dart player himself was regularly active in another studio at RTL, so his name often came up. Van der Gijp remembers the conversations well: "We just talked about darts for half an hour. And then Johan said: 'How can Co and all those other dart players be so terribly ugly?' Then we would discuss that for quite a while."

Stompé, nicknamed "The Matchstick," had already had his greatest successes in those years, but remained a beloved figure in the darts world. His image as a colorful personality made him ideal conversation material, even for analysts who actually had to discuss football.

Yet it was not only light-hearted topics that came up. Van der Gijp also cited Stompé's tax problems. The dart player was in the news for not declaring over 200,000 euros in income between 2009 and 2013. It earned him 150 hours of community service. "I asked Co every time how that was," Van der Gijp tells the podcast. "And he always said, 'My wife filled out those papers.' I think that's SO good. His wife filled out those papers and just reported his salary as a streetcar driver. She just forgot to fill in a few boxes!"

At the time, Stompé's wife herself received 190 hours of community service. In a 2017 interview, Stompé told how tough that period was for the family. "We even had to sell our wedding rings to stay afloat. My wife and I made mistakes, but this witch hunt didn't make sense," the former dart player said.

Despite the setbacks, Stompé remained involved in the darts world. When Viaplay took over the rights to darts in the country, he moved with them and remained active as a commentator and analyst. His experience and down-to-earth outlook still make him a valued voice within the sport.

Van der Gijp's story highlights once again how big a role darts has become in the Netherlands. Where the sport used to often seem like an afterthought during soccer evenings, it is now a full-fledged pillar within the sports landscape. That someone like Co Stompé was a topic of conversation in soccer studios for years shows how much impact darts and its colorful players have had.

What started as a light-hearted side-path in the preview of Europa League matches grew into a recurring phenomenon: conversations about darts and especially about Co Stompé. It shows not only the humorous style of Van der Gijp and Derksen, but also how darts is woven into Dutch sports culture. And although Stompé went through difficult periods, he remains an important name in the sport - both as a former player and nowadays as a commentator.

With Van der Gijp's anecdotes, it becomes clear that darts is more than just sport; it is entertainment, conversation and sometimes even fodder for hilarious discussions in the soccer studio.