Chris Dobey has admitted Brexit-related travel disruption is making some players think twice about competing on the European Tour.
Leading names have expressed frustration after difficult journeys to this weekend’s Belgian Darts Open, with British players unable to use EU e-gates and instead forced into lengthy manual passport queues.
Dobey revealed he spent more than two-and-a-half hours stuck at border control before eventually taking to the stage in Wieze.
He said: “It is frustrating because you want to come here and be fully prepared.
“It’s just how things go. We shouldn’t have left the EU — I think that is the big problem. It is the same for most of the British lads.
“It is not nice because it was over two and a half hours we had to wait for the passport.”
The same issues arose in Poland earlier in the season, leaving Dobey hopeful that improvements can be made to ease the strain on players travelling across Europe.
The delays have even led the former Masters champion to question whether he can commit to every event on the schedule.
He added: “It is still early days, so you want to play as many as possible.
“Easter weekend in Munich will probably be the same, so I don’t know — it’s tempting to consider whether I do that one.
“I want to play in them all. You love playing on the European Tour.
“It’s where the big money is in the rankings, so you don’t want to miss them.
“Hopefully I can get it sorted and start enjoying it.”
Nicknamed ‘Hollywood’, Dobey showed no signs of disruption on the oche, producing a clinical display on the doubles — landing six of 12 attempts — to defeat Dave Chisnall 6-3 and book his place in the third round.
The Bedlington ace will now face either Josh Rock or Kim Huybrechts on Sunday afternoon for a place in the quarter-finals.
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