In the world of sports, rivalries are common. In most cases these are purely for competitive reasons, such as battling to be the best, or perhaps the presence of geographic rivalries.
But in some cases, rivalries can be personal and deep-seated. The world of Darts is no different. One of the biggest rivalries that exist involves Michael Van Gerwen and Jelle Klaasen.
These Dutch professional darts players are noticeably cold to one another, do not shake hands, nor do they share eye contact. But why is this? In this article we take a look, starting with a video below from Worldwide Darts on YouTube.
Background
Both Michael Van Gerwen and Jelle Klaasen hail from the Netherlands. The duo, alongside fellow Dutch players Raymond van Barneveld, Co Stompe, and Vincent Van Der Voort, had a strong relationship originally.
Klaasen won the BDO World Darts Championship in 2006 aged just 21. Van Gerwen meanwhile has won three PDC World Darts Championship titles in his career. For those unaware, the PDC is generally seen as superior to the BDO.
Van Gerwen has had a more successful career than Klaasen, having won several major titles. But Klaasen has in his own right had a successful career.
The duo used to get on well, but this all changed in 2012. Since then, things have never been the same again.
Klaasen’s 2012 Controversy
In August 2012, controversy erupted around Klaasen. It turned out that Klaasen had sent inappropriate (nude) images of himself to an underage girl.
The girl was just 15 at the time, and according to her mother, had a diagnosis of Autism. This added a further layer of unease.
The kicker? This girl was Van Gerwen’s family friend. This infuriated Van Gerwen, resulting in the fallout between the duo.
Klaasen apologised after the allegations were made, saying “I am deeply embarrassed and I am very sad that I have been so stupid.”
Following this, a range of other allegations came forward. The West brothers – Steve and Tony – both fellow professionals, criticised him.
Steve West accused Klaasen of “making moves” on his wife, and called him a “filthy paedo”.
Tony went far further, calling him a “sneaky no good t**t,” a “pedo”, and a “pr**k.” He also said that he “shud of just cut him up then.”
It wasn’t the best look for either of the West brothers. Neither came out looking classy, with their language and grammar also poor.
The aftermath
In December 2012, after the case made it through the Dutch courts, Klaasen was sentenced to 16 hours of community service and a 327 euro fine.
Many saw this as a very lenient punishment. But Klaasen’s apology and the financial loss incurred appeared to ease the punishment.
Following the end of the case, Klaasen tweeted that he had been experiencing severe headaches over the last few months, but that he had “never felt as good as I do now,” before signing off the tweet with #gerechtigheid (justice).
Many had expected Klaasen to never play darts again. However, in early 2013, Klaasen returned to darts. He played in the 2013 UK Darts Masters. As fate would have it, he was drawn to play Van Gerwen. Van Gerwen won the match.
Klaasen continued to play, and gradually rose back up the world rankings. Him and Van Gerwen have played one another on 16 occasions since 2012. Van Gerwen has won all but one of the matches. The exception to this was at the 2014 German Darts Championship.
At all of these matches, the duo have never shaken hands or bumped fists – with these being customary on-stage activities from players in darts.
It should be said that it is Van Gerwen who instigates the no contact, with Klaasen having been seen applauding Van Gerwen after losing to him. Klaasen appears to respect Van Gerwen’s wishes though.
In a 2020 interview, after Van Gerwen defeated Klaasen in the second round of the World Darts Championship, he said “I hate him” and “we don’t like each other” – clearly showcasing his feelings.
The Takeaway
Klaasen’s indiscretions have not made many headlines in the years since. He has been able to continue his career.
Little is known about the victim, but hopefully the episode hasn’t left an indelible mark on her.
It is difficult to make a judgment. While what Klaasen did was clearly wrong, many say that everyone deserves a second chance.
In some cases, the old saying of “let bygones be bygones” can be applied and we remember that forgiveness is important. But at the same time, sometimes forgiveness is not possible.
Either way, we don’t expect to see Van Gerwen and Klaasen to start being friendly again any time soon.
