Mervyn King was one of the big names of the darts scene for years. But now he is standing in front of a financial broke heap.
His nickname is “The King”, but financially it looks anything but royal with Darts star Mervyn King.
Last week, the 58-year-old was declared unable to pay by the High Court of Justice in London. His debts are said to have grown at almost £ 500,000 (600,000 euros). The reason: King had not taxed his prize money earned at darts for years out of ignorance. He assumed that it was profits, not income.
Accordingly, King, who was one of the biggest names of the sport in the late nineties and the early 2000s, is now in front of a financial broke heap. He and his wife even have to worry about their home.
Darts legend before ruin
“Tracey is worried that we will lose the house. But if we lose it, we lose it. I can’t change that. It all depends on the official insolvency administrator and what he wants to do, ”King explained to the British tabloid The Sun.
The Darts professional, which had reached the PDC in seven finals in Major tournaments and reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2009, was looking for contact with the tax office.
“It was better than if they had found me and said: ‘Excuse me, Mr. King, why didn’t you pay taxes for 20 years?’ Because I think I would have ended up in prison, ”said King.
“Now everything is clarified, either way – whether I lose everything and the house disappears. If this is the case, at least I am back at the beginning and start all over again. ”
King is currently trying to stay afloat over underclass Challenger tournaments and on the senior tour. He had lost his professional tour card at the end of 2024.
King criticizes the PDC
In the course of his open words, the current number 136 of the darts world rankings also criticized the two large associations BDO and PDC. “They paid out your prize money and left you alone,” King was annoyed about the defective support outside of the sporting concerns.
“When I found out that I should pay taxes, I already had owe £ pound. A few years later I had even more debt. “
During the Corona pandemic, he then began to deliver packages for Amazon and noticed that he was increasingly heading for bankruptcy.
This was followed by the way into bankruptcy – and the concerns about the consequences. “The dogs are worried. If you take the house away from us, we have to look for a new place to stay. We have to take the dogs with us. I have hardly slept in the past four or five years at night because I was worried about it, “King admits:” The problem is that you think the money blessing would last forever, but he doesn’t. Unfortunately I can’t turn the time back. “