Van der Voort accuses Co Stompé of lying after comments about Van Barneveld split: “Made up from A to Z”; Stompé responds indignantly: “Very reliable source”

Former professional darter Co Stompé has recently drawn considerable criticism for comments on the split between Raymond van Barneveld and his manager Ben de Kok on Viaplay. According to Vincent van der Voort, Stompé “fooled the viewers” with what he claimed during the broadcast in question.

Van der Voort made this clear during the latest episode of the Darts Draait Door podcast. “The man is simply making up a story from A to Z. Then you’re just taking the viewer for a ride,” he began.

According to Stompé, De Kok had sold his company Bengi and therefore could no longer be ‘Barney’s’ manager. That would also make things difficult for Jeffrey de Zwaan, because he still works there. Van der Voort says none of that is true. “None of it adds up.”

The split between Van Barneveld and his manager has nothing at all to do with the sale of the company, according to ‘Fast Vinny’. “The contract simply ran until 01/01/2027. Only some things happened during the UK Open that caused a conflict between them. And that resolution is going nowhere. There’s definitely still work to do if you want to smooth that over.”

He also states that De Zwaan has not worked at Bengi BV for some time. “He simply works for Ben de Kok himself, which allows him to train more and focus on his professional career. Those are all details, but then you sit there,” he explained, referring to Stompé.

According to Van der Voort, he should have just contacted the people involved. “He has the phone number of all three of them. Or just say: ‘I don’t know anything about it, I can’t comment.’ But if you speak up, you need to have a story, you know. I find that unbelievable. That you’re just spouting nonsense. It seems like you’re only there to collect your paycheck, right? You put on an ugly shirt and that’s it. That can’t be right.”

Former Van Barneveld manager Jaco van Bodegom, who was a guest on the podcast, defended Stompé. He believed Stompé wanted to protect De Kok and Van Barneveld and even laughed at his remarks. “I said to my wife right away: ‘They should hire him as a newsreader. Then there would be no wars left in the world.’” Van der Voort, however, didn’t see the humor. “I find it annoying that someone sits there and just spreads lies.”

Stompé has also responded to Van der Voort’s remarks after the controversy. The darts analyst insists he did nothing wrong. “The new owners had nothing to do with darts and so there was no place or room for Van Barneveld,” Stompé told Sportnieuws.nl. “At the Dutch Open in early February I heard from a very reliable source that this was going on. I wasn’t aware then of any conflict between the two.”

“I didn’t have that information and it wasn’t public knowledge either. I made my statements based on what I knew, and that was what I had understood first-hand,” he continued.

According to Stompé, he can hardly be blamed for the fact that the information wasn’t public at the time. He therefore wasn’t aware of it himself when he explained the split during the Viaplay broadcast around the Premier League Darts night in Berlin last Thursday. “I got that reason from very close by, almost at the source itself, and that’s what I knew. Nothing more. From what I understand now, something else happened between those two afterwards, but I didn’t know that,” he concluded.