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Olly Croft, the founder of the British Darts Organisation, has angrily rejected a proposed takeover by the Professional Darts Corporation, describing its chairman, Barry Hearn, as being motivated by his "inflated ego and perceived self-importance".

Relations between the rival bodies have been acrimonious since the PDC formed in 1992 following a breakaway by several leading players from the BDO. Each now has its world championship televised – on Sky and the BBC respectively.

Hearn wrote an open letter to the BDO in which he proposed a £1m fee for the buyout, offered to honour all of its existing contracts, and said: "We [the PDC] know what we are doing and want to invest in the future of darts. The BDO made £16,000 profit last year. The PDC made £1m profit, had a turnover of £9m and has roughly £3m in the bank.

"I would suggest that if the BDO really care about the sport of darts and the millions of players, then you should accept offers and let us inject not just finance, but professional management to run darts in a modern and effective manner."

But Croft, who formed the BDO in 1973, was dismissive of Hearn. "The BDO is not for sale," he said. "Barry Hearn has gone on record saying that he wants to 'destroy' the BDO. The reason that the BDO doesn't produce vast net profits is because we plough back the money we receive into the sport for the benefit of the sport and its players. This is nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt and has nothing to do with unifying the sport but everything to do with his inflated ego and perceived self-importance."

Croft also appeared to question Hearn's claims regarding his body's finances. "You can only shake your head in total disbelief at the sheer arrogance of the man [Hearn]. Has anyone in the public domain ever seen the published accounts of the PDC? Have they ever had an AGM?"

(Source: Guardian.co.uk)