Darts legend involved in bizarre row over walk-on song as rival is accused of ‘STEALING’ his iconic anthem at World Championship
- Croatian darts player Romeo Grbavac was accused of stealing a walk-on number
- Grbavac walked over to ‘Eye of the Tiger’ being used by another player
- Raymond van Barneveld later revealed that Grbavac had apologized to him online
Controversy arose at the PDC World Championship on Thursday evening when a debutant was accused of stealing a walk-on number from the legendary Raymond van Barneveld.
Croatian star Romeo Grbavac made his first appearance at Alexandra Palace against Callan Rydz and enjoyed the festive chaos of the occasion as he prepared his walk to the oche.
Players typically claim a walk-on song as their own, with it considered unsportsmanlike to use another star’s tune and eyebrows were raised when the iconic tune ‘Eye of the Tiger’ came on.
The anthem is best known in the darts world because it is the favorite song that former PDC world champion Van Barneveld runs to.
However, it has now emerged that Grbavac never intended to use the tune and had initially approached the PDC to play a popular Croatian song.
Grbavac wanted to use the Eurovision Song Contest hit ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ by Baby Lasagna, but was blocked from doing so by the PDC, which intervenes in such matters.
Croatian star Romeo Grbavac made his first appearance at Alexandra Palace as he walked out to a well-known song
Grbavac walked outside to ‘Eye of the Tiger’, the national anthem usually used by Raymond van Barneveld
It has now emerged that Grbavac never intended to use the tune and had initially approached the PDC to play a popular Croatian song.
The organization decided that there was a risk that fans would become bored with the music, while there may also be a copyright issue that they wanted to avoid.
‘Eye of the Tiger’ was then played as a replacement song, with Van Barneveld questioning the moment on X where he posted a cryptic tweet.
While the match was going on, Van Barneveld tweeted a surprised emoji next to the word “eh” and emojis referencing the famous Survivor song.
However, instead of hitting back, Grbavac apologized to Van Barneveld for the mistake, with the Dutchman revealing he had received a private message from the 30-year-old.
Grbavac went on to lose the match 3–0, but still seemed in good spirits as he sent Van Barneveld a message saying: ‘Hi Barney, this song wasn’t my choice and I don’t know why they played’.
Van Bareneveld later revealed that he had received an apology from Grbavac on social media
Van Barneveld saw the funny side of the situation and revealed that the situation had been resolved
Luckily, Van Barneveld saw the funny side of things and made sure the matter was water under the bridge by posting another update, writing, “Okay, all is forgiven buddy,” alongside a laughing and thumbs up emoji.
Meanwhile, supporters can see Van Barneveld in person on Saturday belting out his song when he plays Nick Kenny.