Michael van Gerwen breaks silence after he was caught up in a ugly kebab shop brawl

Darting icon Michael van Gerwen has spoken out after footage of him getting into a brawl in a kebab shop emerged online over the weekend

Michael van Gerwen has spoken out after he was caught up in a kebab shop brawl. Footage emerged online of the three-time World Champion caught in the middle of a scuffle, as Van Gerwen had to be pulled away by others involved.

And Mighty Mike has now spoken about the brawl. Van Gerwen told Darts News: “After an enjoyable night out, we wanted to grab something to eat, and unfortunately I ended up in a situation you’d rather avoid.

“The man came at me from the kitchen, not the other way round, following a verbal exchange. People are making it sound more dramatic than it actually was, which is a shame.

“As you can see, people stepped in straight away and the situation was resolved. I even spoke with the man’s nephew afterwards, and we cleared the air before we left.”

The Dutchman wasn’t present at the Swiss Darts Trophy over the weekend – instead opting to focus on securing his place at the Players Championship Finals.

Van Gerwen’s best pal, PDC star Vincent van der Voort, told the Darts Draait Door podcast: “That’s where the focus is now. In those five more tournaments he is going to play, he has to make up that £10,000. Everything will have to give way for that.

“With that intention he has to go (next week) to those three Pro Tours as well. Not that it’s ‘just’ a floor tournament.

“There must be rock-solid performances now. So you can’t be satisfied if you haven’t almost made up that £10,000 deficit already.”

Van Gerwen also revealed back in June that he had split with his wife of 11 years, Daphne. The pair, who began dating in 2008 before tying the knot six years later, have two children together – Mike and Zoe.

Opening up on the split, Van Gerwen told Dutch outlet AD earlier this month: “I’m just human, you know. At some point, you want to think about nice things again, not just be preoccupied with the mess you’re experiencing at that moment.

“I couldn’t write this script myself, so I’ll have to deal with it in a way I think is right. You could just sit around and grieve all day, but that’s pointless. So you do fun things, take time for yourself.”

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