Kyle McKinstry and Wessel Nijman have been suspected of match fixing by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA); with alarm bells being triggered after suspicious betting behaviour was flagged by the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA).
This was during the
MODUS Icons of Darts League which took place from March - August during lockdown; as a result, these competitions despite falling under the DRA due to player membership are not regulated by the PDC.
In particular Nijman was suspected of match fixing on May 14, 2020 as part of the Icons of Darts League. Supposedly the DRA had received a signal even before the match about suspicious betting behaviour.
They subsequently began an investigation together with watchdogs and betting offices. Nigel Mawer, chairman of the DRA has decided that he is suspended from all DRA-regulated matches until this case is settled. A date for the hearing is not yet known.
David Evans who won the match 4-0 has not been suspected of any suspicious behaviour; so has not received any sort of sanctions.
For McKinstry, similarly this was flagged up during a match against David Evans earlier on April 30. He lost it 5-0 and there has also been similar notes of it during a match against Nijman on May 2.
On this case though, Nijman is not involved. In both cases, the DRA was notified about further suspicious betting after the match. He has to now answer for these two suspicions; he failed to cooperate in terms of providing a detailed telephone bill. Again he cannot play DRA-regulated events until these hearings take place.