Michael van Gerwen on Brexit: 'It's horrible. Did you vote for Brexit? Brex-s***'
The Dutchman became world champion for a third time after defeating Englishman Michael Smith at Alexandra Palace on Sunday
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Your support makes all the difference.Michael van Gerwen has made his thoughts on Brexit very clear as he basks in the glory of his third PDC World Darts Championship title.
The Dutchman claimed the Sid Waddell trophy for a third time after defeating Englishman Michael Smith at Alexandra Palace on Sunday.
He received a message of congratulations from Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte - an outspoken critic of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union - after his win and Van Gerwen revealed afterwards how the impending move will impact him and his livelihood.
"I hope I’m going to get a visa," he said. "It’s horrible isn’t it. Did you vote for Brexit? Brex-shit. I don’t like it. Look at the pound and the Euro. I get everything paid in pounds so just have a look how much it dropped.
"Let’s say it dropped by 10%, that’s cost me 10% of my prize money straight away. So that’s quite a lot of money. But it’s not only that. It’s horrible."
So can Van Gerwen persuade Rutte to help stop Brexit? "It’s not him is it. It’s your prime minister who did that, eh?," he added.
Van Gerwen has dominated the game in recent years and there is little evidence to suggest he will not reign supreme for several years to come.
The 29-year-old, who moved ahead of Adrian Lewis, John Part and Gary Anderson in the list of PDC world champions with his victory over Smith, sees no reason why the next 10 years cannot be trophy-laden.
"It will be around 40, I could be the king of darts, why not?" he added. "I have been the king of darts for the last five years, another 10 years, why not? Keep positive.
"I like what I do, I love what I do, I work really hard to do things like this, people who know me know what this means to me. It means a lot to me."
Smith, who could have made a closer game of it had he been able to find his doubles at key moments, claimed he is better than Van Gerwen and intends to dethrone him as number one.
Plenty of pretenders to the throne have come and gone in the last few years, but the Dutchman does not believe there are many that have what it takes to challenge him at the highest level.
"They are not good enough," he added. "You can say whatever you want, but to have the mindset is something totally different.
"There are lots of decent young darts players, but can they be decent at full tournaments, especially the worlds, that's something different."
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