‘Scandalous and s***’ – Raging Mike De Decker doubles down on PDC criticism after Premier League Darts 2025 snub
MIKE DE DECKER has labelled his omission from the 2025 Premier League lineup as “scandalous” and “s***”.
De Decker became the first player in the 20-year history of the Premier League to miss out on a place in the lineup after winning a major televised on Sky Sports.
The Belgian thrower won the Grand Prix on October and is currently number 24 in the PDC Order of Merit.
But that wasn’t enough to earn him a spot in the eight-man lineup with the PDC choosing to opt for Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Chris Dobey, Nathan Aspinall, Stephen Bunting, Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price and Rob Cross instead.
De Decker hasn’t taken lightly to the news that he missed the cut and has furiously slammed the decision to omit him from the tournament.
Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, he said: “I find their decision a bit scandalous, to be honest. I didn’t think that [the PDC’s] explanation was fair.
“After my Grand Prix victory, I said that I might not be ready and I don’t regret that. But afterwards I confirmed at other tournaments that I can compete with the world’s best.
“Only at the World Championships it didn’t work out. S*** and a shame that it happened then, but still. I do feel ready.”
De Decker didn’t stop there either, going on to take aim at Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price being chosen ahead of him.
He added: “They did not deserve it. Suddenly they reach a quarter-final at the World Championships and they are there.
Premier League Darts 2025: Dates and venues
Night 1 – The SSE Arena, Belfast – Thursday February 6
Night 2 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow – Thursday February 13
Night 3 – 3Arena, Dublin – Thursday February 20
Night 4 – Westpoint Exeter – Thursday February 27
Night 5 – The Brighton Centre – Thursday March 6
Night 6 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham – Thursday March 13
Night 7 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff – Thursday March 20
Night 8 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle – Thursday March 27
Night 9 – Uber Arena, Berlin – Thursday April 3
Night 10 – AO Arena, Manchester – Thursday April 10
Night 11 – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam – Thursday April 17
Night 12 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool – Thursday April 24
Night 13 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham, Thursday May 1
Night 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds – Thursday May 8
Night 15 – P&J Live, Aberdeen – Thursday May 15
Night 16 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday May 22
Play-Offs – The O2, London – Thursday May 29
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“Aspinall is there with his walk-on purely for the entertainment and if Price performs badly in the first few weeks, he will start complaining again.
“They say that you get into the Premier League based on results, but apparently that is not the case.”
PDC chief Matt Porter explained the decision to leave De Decker out after the announcement.
Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: “Mike is an outstanding talent and is someone that undoubtedly we will see in Premier League Darts in the future.
“We didn’t feel he was quite ready. There’s a lot of tournaments throughout the year.
“We’ve seen players in the past, I don’t want to embarrass by naming them, but players like Danny Noppert, Ross Smith and Andrew Gilding that have won TV tournaments.
“But you have to show that you can compete in the latter stages of TV tournaments on a regular basis.
“Doing it once is fantastic and is something that you will always have but to really be part of the elite, you have to be doing it on a regular basis over multiple years.”
Despite De Decker’s Grand Prix success, the 29-year-old did struggle elsewhere throughout last year and was a disappointment in the World Championship, losing in the second round to world number 35 Luke Woodhouse.
While there has been a pattern of major winners missing out on the lineup in recent years, but De Decker becomes the first one to win a Sky Major and fail to be chosen.
De Decker had already voiced his frustration at missing out on social media.
The star tungsten thrower uploaded an Instagram story showing an eye-roll emoji alongside the fact that he is the first Sky major winner to miss out.
While he also shared a story that read: “Once I don’t give af, there’s literally nothing you can do about it”.
Major winners who missed out
Here's a look at every major winner to have ever missed out on a spot in the Premier League
- Paul Nicholson (2010)
- Rob Cross (2022)
- Danny Noppert (2022)
- Ross Smith (2022)
- Andrew Gilding (2023)
- Dimitri Van den Bergh (2025)
- Ritchie Edhouse (2025)
- Mike De Decker (2025)*
*Major televised on Sky Sports