"This could be the last European Tour of the year": Top names including Clayton, Aspinall and Dobey face travel nightmares en route to Belgian Darts Open
Top names are threatening not to play European Tours for the rest of the year after showing their dismay on social media for travel chaos on their way to this weekend's Belgian Darts Open.
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Already fraught with withdrawals, the European Tour which heads to Wieze has faced criticism with top names in the Order of Merit given blanket protection to not play until the Saturday with many deciding in fact not to play anyway.
But those who do travel are seemingly finding the same problems when they do head over to different countries and that is long waits in passport control with most bing the British players who do not hold EU passports.
Since Brexit, this has become an issue in itself for Brits heading abroad with them not being allowed to use the passport scanners and needing to get their passports stamped. This leads to long lines at border control and for dart players, this has led to complaints on social media.
Clayton threatens to withdraw from future European Tours
Albeit while some losing their luggage can be perhaps changed, this of course isn't something that is possible to rectify as such. Jonny Clayton in particular who is part of this year's Premier League line-up is one of only a few from that line-up who has travelled this weekend including Dublin winner Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries, Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock.
Gerwyn Price and Gian van Veen, the latter who is in hospital with kidney stones haven't travelled. Clayton shared a long passport queue in Brussels airport and penned on social media that he is considering boycotting future tournaments. "Two hour wait in Brussels airport, this could be the last European Tour of the year." He shared a picture of the line for security on Instagram.
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Not Cheltenham but a passport queue for Aspinall this weekend.
Nathan Aspinall could've been in the same line as Clayton as he also encountered problems writing more of a scathing story. "Another week, another Euro Tour. Another f*** off wait to get through passport."
While Chris Dobey saw it as the continuation of a long year. "These airports are becoming an absolute nightmare and it's only Euro Tour 3/15."
Clayton will face Nijman/Bialecki, Dobey takes on Chisnall or Tricole while for Aspinall, it is Ryan Joyce. That is if they get through passport control.
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.