Barry Hearn sees no point in darts at Olympics: ''Have you ever tried to eat a medal?''

Darts is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, but the sport has not yet secured a spot at the Olympic Games. Reportedly, Darts does not yet meet all the requirements to be added to the Olympic programme.

Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries and Michael Smith, among others, have all indicated in the past that they would like to see darts at the Olympic Games. PDC president Barry Hearn, however, isn't so of this idea. He does not believe there is enough financial incentive to add it to the darts calendar.

''No,no,no let's not go down that old road,'' Hearn begins his argument in conversation with talkSPORT.com. ''The Olympics in its purest form is a wonderful occasion but that has all changed. All the things wrong about sport, you have to give them huge financial incentive to sacrifice their lives for our entertainment. The image of the Olympics like the medal and ceremony keep it alive. Have you ever tried to eat a medal? These guys need cash and the Olympic movement hates that for sure."

Despite his position, Hearn clarified that he believes it should be considered purely as a sport, but not in conjunction with the current players. "Why not by the way? Darts is the fastest growing sports in the world. From a participation point of view of course they should have darts. But why haven't they got it?They want to control things for the love of the sport, but I want to control things to give people the opportunity to change their lives. I'm proud of the job we've done, and I'm not bothered at all about the Olympics. So I'm not trying to get in it, I want to improve the player's lives."

Humphries linked to this topic in June. The reigning world champion hopes to one day compete for a gold medal himself. ''Yeah I think it should be introduced - I think it's the biggest sport in the world that isn't involved, to be honest. I've seen many say, 'You just throw darts at a board it isn't an Olympic sport', but then are archery or shooting Olympic sports? They don't require athleticism, it is aiming for a target. We do the same. All the top sports are included and darts is not, and I think that is totally fair to say," said the world champion.