Luke Humphries issues warning after Michael van Gerwen stance becomes clear
Luke Humphries isn't opposed to playing darts in Saudi Arabia, however, he believes that the World Championships need to stay at Alexandra Palace
Luke Humphries has issued a word of warning to those who hope to see darts played at the top level in Saudi Arabia, insisting that the PDC World Championships should stay on home soil.
Cool Hand Luke was knocked out of the Poland Darts Masters at the weekend earlier than many fans would have expected, losing 5-6 to Michael Smith in the quarter-finals of the tournament which teen sensation Luke Littler would go on to win. And speaking to media after the event, the 29-year-old was greeted with a split-hypothetical question pertaining to darts becoming an Olympic sport as well as making the move to Saudi Arabia.
On the Olympics, Luke responded: "Well, at the Olympic Games yes, I do think it should be there. I think right now in the UK it's probably the second or third biggest sport in our country to be honest.
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"And I think it's growing and getting bigger in so many other countries, so I think it's probably the biggest sport that's not in the Olympic Games and I think it should be."
However, when probed upon the darts making their way over to Saudi Arabia - following in the footsteps of boxing, which has just hosted a superfight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk - Humphries wasn't too sure. He added: "Saudi Arabia, yeah it would be great to play there.
"I'm not an advocate for it to be the World Championships. I think the World Championships is where it belongs and that is Alexandra Palace, where we all want to play."
He also issued a word of warning to campaigners who believe that Saudi should host the World Championships, adding: "That is one of them things where I feel like you have to be careful because the fans are what make us what we are.
"So if you move away from Alexandra Palace and go somewhere else you could take away that little bit from the fans. Every year when we go to play the World Championships the fanbase seems to grow and you're nothing without the fans so I'd love the World Championships to stay at Alexandra Palace.
"But I'd love to see an event in Saudi Arabia, maybe a World Series event or just something, because obviously the sport's growing over there as well."
London's Alexandra Palace has became synonymous with the sport of darts after holding its first PDC World Championships back in 2008. Humphries also bagged his first tournament title at the venue earlier this year after besting Luke 'The Nuke' Littler in a tense 7-4 final - joining the likes of Phil Taylor, Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwyn who have all achieved victory in the premiere tournament.
The latter previously said that he would back a PDC move to Saudi Arabia, citing how it could be beneficial for the game and its pro players. Speaking to Mail Online in May, the Dutchman said: "[It] will be great, I think. They wanna make sports big in that country.
"You saw the big boxing games there, the football there. For me, I don't mind where I play. I will be competing, and that's how it is."
