''I feel a lot of regret'' - Kim Huybrechts reacts to high profile row with compatriot and apologizes

On Tuesday, a video suddenly appeared online showing Kim Huybrechts trying to attack his compatriot Mike de Decker and calling him all sorts of insults.

The video in question appeared in a publication about the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) ruling following investigations into Huybrechts' conduct. Indeed, his Belgian darts colleagues Dimitri van den Bergh and Mike de Decker had filed a complaint against him. The disciplinary committee fined Huybrechts 1,500 pounds for aggressive and inappropriate behavior.

VTM News traveled to Huybrechts' store for a first reaction from the native of Antwerp. "It's never nice to be caught off guard and given a punishment for such things. I feel a lot of regret when I see those images. But there are two sides to every story, and I want to tell my side. First of all, my reaction was wrong at all times. You should never have physical contact with someone when you have an argument. The video in question cannot be justified, it went black before my eyes. But that has its reasons,'' Huybrechts began his story.

Threats toward Huybrechts' family were behind the angry backlash from "The Hurricane," according to him. "My wife had put a post online indicating she was disappointed because Mike had said things behind my back on the Tour that had come to my ears. I hadn't addressed him on that at the time because I just wanted to avoid confrontation. (laughs cynically) Then someone from Mike's family called my wife with threats, also to my children. As a father you always want to protect your family, especially when you hear things like that. Then I snapped. I should never have reacted like that, I was rightly reprimanded for that. But when it comes to my family I am quite sensitive."

Recently, Huybrechts has already apologized to De Decker. "I recently played a final against Mike at a tournament. After the match, win or lose, I had resolved to apologize. Mike accepted it, but unfortunately that is not mentioned in the articles. Anyway, the people who need to know are aware, and that's what counts. The DRA ruling was two weeks ago, and that case with Mike goes back as far as November. For me, it had kind of died down, but with the media storm, everything is being brought up again. Not nice, including for my family who have received certain messages on social media. I hope it goes down again soon."

Besides the conflict with De Decker, a feud with Van den Bergh also played out in the background. "That has also been going on for a while. It's mainly about the private sphere. Dimitri's wife has tried to interfere in my marriage, which I don't like very much. I have discussed everything necessary with my wife."

Huybrechts doubts that things will ever work out between the three Belgian darters. "For me, that's not necessarily the case. In the future we have to see. I'm not a hateful person. For now better do our own thing and concentrate on our own careers. In 2024 I want to be mainly busy with myself and spend as little time on this as possible, even if this is getting difficult now."