“It’s only April, and it’s been hit after hit after hit” – Van Barneveld shaken by remarks from former colleague Dick van Dijk

Raymond van Barneveld has been on the receiving end for some time now, and former pro Dick van Dijk recently poured more fuel on the fire. The former WDF World Cup winner lashed out in an interview with Panorama at several top players past and present, including “Barney” and also Co Stompé. He called the five-time world champion “the biggest narcissist there is,” among other things. Vincent van der Voort spoke with Van Barneveld after these remarks and shared how it affected the Hague native.

Van Dijk is no stranger in the darts world. “He’s a former WDF World Cup winner. That was in Australia, at the start of this century—I was there,” he said in the latest episode of the Darts Draait Door podcast. “He seems to have a bit of a grudge. I’ve seen several interviews recently, and it feels like something is bothering him,” Van der Voort joked.

What stands out most is that Van Dijk is critical of several well-known names in Dutch darts, including Van Barneveld and Co Stompé. “He definitely seems to have an issue with Raymond van Barneveld, like there’s still something unresolved,” said Van der Voort.

Van der Voort, who has known Van Dijk for decades, paints a clear picture of his character. “Not very positive things. I’ve known Dick for about 30 years. He’s a very outspoken person—he says whatever he thinks. You can have a great laugh with him, though. He has a lot of humor. He was supported by Ben de Kok at one point, and he even traveled with Van Barneveld for a while.”

The connection between Van Dijk and Van Barneveld goes way back. Van Dijk traveled with the five-time world champion for a period in the past and was also supported by sponsor Ben de Kok. “So there’s clearly some history there,” Van der Voort suspects. “And now he’s letting it all out…”

The timing of the interview raises questions. Why is this coming out now? “is it really necessary to do that in Panorama all these years later?” Van der Voort wonders aloud. At the same time, he acknowledges it could involve more recent events: “Well, it’s not really 20 years later, of course—this is more recent.” There is also uncertainty about how the interview came about. “I don’t know. I also don’t know how these things come about. I’m curious how it happened. Did they contact Panorama, or did Panorama think, ‘Let’s call Dick van Dijk’?”

The comments especially hurt Van Barneveld. Van der Voort has since spoken to the former world champion: “I don’t know if there’s more to come, but this one definitely hit van Barneveld hard. I find it tough to hear. It’s not like this is the first blow for Raymond this year. It’s only April, and it’s been hit after hit after hit. That one definitely lands—it’s obvious. That makes sense.”

For now, the main question is what the fallout will be. Will there be more reactions? Will it remain a single outburst? Van der Voort remains cautious: “I just hope things ease up a bit for Raymond, with everything that’s still coming.”