The Professional Darts Corporation endeavours to be an ethical employer and supports a range of charitable organisations through the Matchroom Sport Charitable Foundation.
The PDC works with the Matchroom Sport Charitable Foundation, which supports a wide range of charitable causes.
The Matchroom Sport Charitable Foundation receives a donation per ticket bought for PDC televised tournaments in the UK & Ireland, alongside other appropriate donations.
Over £1 million in donations have now been made by the Matchroom Sport Charitable Foundation since 2016.
Click here for further information about the Matchroom Sport Charitable Foundation.
The PDC supports the annual Rainbow Laces campaign.
The Rainbow Laces initiative celebrates LGBT+ inclusion in sport, with the PDC adopting the rainbow colours of the campaign and referee Huw Ware taking a role as an LGBT+ ambassador for darts.
The PDC has also worked with Sky Sports during the Grand Slam to support the Rainbow Laces campaign.
A) ORGANISATION
This statement applies to all companies within and associated with Matchroom Sport Limited (referred to in this statement as the “Group”) pursuant to section 54(1) Modern Slavery Act 2015. The information included in the statement refers to the calendar year to 31st December 2021.
B) ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE:
We are one of the leading independent suppliers of televised sports programming in the world covering the sports of Boxing, Darts, Snooker, 9Ball Pool, Golf, Netball, Basketball, Fishing, Ping Pong and Tenpin Bowling. The Group creates, organises, stages and exploits these events throughout the world but primarily in the United Kingdom.
Matchroom Sport Limited is the ultimate parent company of the Group and has the following subsidiaries, Matchroom Boxing Limited, Matchroom Multi Sport Limited, The Professional Darts Corporation Limited, World Snooker Holding Limited, Euro Pro Tour Limited and their respective subsidiary companies, Matchroom Boxing USA Limited, Matchroom Boxing USA LLC, Matchroom Boxing Italy 2018 LLP, World Snooker Limited and World Series of Darts Limited. The Group has its head office in Brentwood in Essex with branch offices in Bristol, Avon and New York City NY.
C) DEFINITIONS
The Group considers that modern slavery encompasses:
• Human trafficking;
• Forced work, through mental or physical threat;
• Being owned or controlled by an employer through mental or physical abuse of the threat of abuse;
• Being dehumanised, treated as a commodity or being bought or sold as property;
• Being physically constrained or to have restriction placed on freedom of movement.
D) COMMITMENT
The Group acknowledges its responsibilities in relation to tackling modern slavery and commits to complying with the provisions in the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Group does not enter into business with any other organisation, in the United Kingdom or abroad, which knowingly supports or is found to involve itself in slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour. No labour provided to the Group in the pursuance of the provision of its own services is obtained by means of slavery or human trafficking. The Group strictly adheres to the minimum standards required in relation to its responsibilities under the relevant employment legislation.
E) SUPPLY CHAINS:
The Group operates in the sports promotion and television sectors and specifically in the provision of services to those industries. Our business is of relatively low complexity with relatively short supply chains with other businesses which are well known to us. We have zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking. We expect all our suppliers and contractors to comply with our values.
F) POTENTIAL EXPOSURE
In general, the Company considers its exposure to slavery/human trafficking to be relatively limited. Nonetheless, it has taken steps to ensure that such practices do not take place in its business nor the business of any organisation that supplies goods and/or services to it.
G) DUE DILIGENCE PROCESSES FOR SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING:
The Group has not, to its knowledge, conducted any business with another organisation which has been found to have involved itself with modern slavery. In accordance with section 54(4) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the Group has taken the following steps to ensure that modern slavery is not taking place:
• We limit the geographical scope of our operations to the UK, Ireland, USA and mainland Europe
• Where possible we build long standing relationships with local suppliers and make clear our expectations of business behaviour
• With regards to national or international supply routes, our point of contact is preferably with a UK or Ireland company or branch and we expect these entities to have suitable anti-slavery and human trafficking policies and processes.
• We have systems in place to encourage the reporting of concerns and the protection of whistle blowers
H) MEASURES:
We use the following measures to check how effective we have been to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of our business or supply chains:
• Right to work checks completed at recruitment stage;
• Ensure minimum employment age adhered to, in line with the relevant legislation;
• Always apply national minimum wage thresholds, in line with the relevant legislation;
• Regular contact with material suppliers including their understanding of, and compliance with, our expectations.
I) CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:
The Company operates a corporate social responsibility policy which incorporates its stance on modern slavery.
J) APPROVAL
This statement is made in pursuance of Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2010 and approved by the Board of Directors on December 14, 2020 and will be reviewed for each calendar year.
Steve Dawson
Group Chief Executive Officer
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Professional Darts Corporation’s Code of Conduct covering Sponsorship agreements with Gambling Companies
The following document outlines the voluntary Code of Conduct that the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) will adhere to when working with sponsors from the gambling industry within the UK.
PDC
The PDC is the commercial entity responsible for commercial exploitation and promotion of professional darts events around the world, and is responsible for the organisation and management of the widely recognised structure for professional darts events which creates pathways for players to make it to the professional ranks, including a close cooperation with the Junior Darts Corporation, the PDC’s affiliate partner for the development of junior players.
In addition to various community campaigns, the PDC works alongside the Matchroom Sport Charitable Foundation, the central body for the benevolent efforts of all the Matchroom group of companies and contributions centre on sporting and community initiatives. PDC donates an amount from the proceeds of each ticket sold for its UK events to the Matchroom Foundation.
Darts Regulation Authority (DRA)
The Darts Regulation Authority is a not-for-profit Company limited by guarantee registered in the UK, and is the Governing Body of Darts. Its primary role is to ensure good governance and integrity within the sport of darts, providing and administering rules and regulations.
The DRA Conduct Regulations are the cornerstone of its activities and include the following:
1. Conduct regulations for players,
2. Anti-Corruption and Betting rules,
3. Disciplinary Rules
4. Anti-Doping Rules
5. Safeguarding and Equality
1. Summary
PDC commits to ensuring that a proportion of income raised from UK gambling sponsorships is reinvested into improving professional and grassroots sporting infrastructure across darts to provide increased opportunities for players at all levels.
PDC recognises that the relationship between gambling and sport needs to be conducted responsibly to protect the sporting community – including its participants and supporters - from any possible gambling related harm. As such, PDC commits to the following principles when entering into sponsorship arrangements:
• In respect of sponsorship arrangements that provide consumers in the UK with facilities for gambling, PDC will only enter into sponsorship arrangements with companies that are licensed under arrangements set by the Gambling Commission permitting them to offer marketing and sponsorship services.
• Reinvestment into sport – a proportion of the commercial income raised from UK gambling sponsorships is reinvested back into darts infrastructure and pathways for players across the UK.
• Maintaining sporting integrity – ensuring that sponsorship agreements do not compromise the integrity of sporting competitions nor harm the welfare of those participants who take part in them.
• Protecting children and other vulnerable people – sponsorship arrangements will be specifically designed to limit their reach and promotion to those under the age of 18 and those at risk of gambling related harm.
• Ensuring the promotion of gambling is undertaken in a socially responsible way – all sponsorship agreements must be promoted and delivered in a socially responsible way. This includes ensuring that education and awareness messages are provided as part of all marketing activities.
2. Monitoring and Compliance
PDC will comply with this Code of Conduct and monitor its implementation in line with DRA regulations. This Code will be published on the PDC website, along with helpful links and guidance, including:
• DRA rules and guidance for gambling;
• A list of all PDC gambling sponsorships, with their agreement to follow this Code of Conduct;
• Information on how to make representations on the Code’s implementation;
3. Applying the Code
The following are examples of how PDC applies and delivers against the four main principles set out in the above Code of Conduct.
Reinvestment into Sport
• Developing junior pathways at grassroots level to PDC
• Community support – PDC will conduct community darts programmes across the UK to help build education through darts, specifically through its ‘Bullseye Maths’ programme helping to educate key stage two children in mathematics.
• The Matchroom Foundation – through which PDC makes a contribution from every PDC ticket sold for UK events - will continue to support to a wide-range of charities, including sports and community charities.
Maintaining sporting integrity
• The DRA provides a specific education and training programme for all players on the PDC covering their betting rules.
• Any contractual arrangement entered into with a gambling company includes specific provision that the gambling company will comply with all aspects of the British Gambling Commission’s LCCP, including those that relate to protecting the integrity of sport, including:
I. sharing information that they know or suspect may relate to a breach of the sport’s betting rules;
II. taking all reasonable steps to familiarise themselves with the rules applied by that sport on betting; and
III. ensuring that a condition of their accepting bets is that for a bet to be valid, customers placing such bets must not be in breach of any relevant rules on betting or misuse of inside information.
• Any gambling sponsor, subject to and in accordance with its obligations under data protection law and the Gambling Commission’s LCCP (particularly in relation to Schedule 6 of the Gambling Act 2005), will comply with all reasonable requests for relevant information that relates to a breach of the sport’s rules.
Protecting children and other vulnerable people
• Any sponsorship of PDC events or activities is specifically designed to limit their reach and promotion to those under the age of 18, and those at risk of gambling related harm.
• Promotion of betting partners on social media in the UK will be focused on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram and YouTube.
• Any links associated with digital activations for a betting partner to their website will always lead to an age-gated service.
• No betting logos or promotional material on merchandise and products will be specifically aimed at children (specifically clothing in children’s sizes).
• Any family areas or enclosures within our venues will be free of gambling branding and no specific promotional activity to be specifically targeted at their area.
• Any activations for a gambling sponsor at a PDC venue will not target people under the age of 18, and reasonable processes will be in place to ensure that under 18s do not participate or enter the space.
Ensuring the promotion of gambling is undertaken in a socially responsible way
• Images of players under the age of 18 will not individually be used by any gambling sponsor to promote their brand or products.
• No player under the age of 18 will be asked to wear a patch branded with the logo by the gambling sponsor where required.
• Where required, a proportion of the sponsorship inventory will be dedicated to safer gambling messaging, including social media posts, website advertising, and programme advertising.
• The DRA delivers a Player Support Programme and Player Educational Sessions that include explaining the rules around gambling within our sport and the risks associated with it, and signposting where and how to find support if needed.
• Through its affiliated players association, the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA), the PDC and DRA will help the awareness of support services for gambling addiction to be made signposted to professional sportspeople (participants) where necessary.
• Participation in industry wide national safer gambling campaigns, such as those promoted by the Betting and Gaming Council, Gamble Aware and others, including Safer Gambling Week
4. PDC Obligations
Prohibited Activities in line with DRA regulation 2.1.1 (i):
• Engaging in insider betting, match-fixing, or any other form of unethical behaviour that could compromise the integrity of darts events is strictly prohibited.
• If an individual is a registered professional or official, they are unable to bet on Darts.
Protection of Confidential Information in line with DRA regulation 2.1.1 (ii):
• Confidential information related to darts events, players, schedules, or outcomes must be protected and not misused for betting purposes.
• Individuals associated with the PDC must adhere to strict confidentiality protocols to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure of sensitive information.
Transparency and Disclosure in line with DRA regulation 2.1.1 (iii):
• All employees, players, officials, and stakeholders associated with the PDC must disclose any commercial relationships they have with betting partners.
• Any potential conflicts of interest arising from these relationships must be promptly disclosed to DRA.
Maintaining Independence and Impartiality in line with DRA regulation 2.1.3:
• Participants must maintain independence and impartiality when engaging with betting partners, refraining from actions that could unduly influence betting markets or outcomes.
• Individuals associated with the PDC must not use their positions to manipulate betting markets for personal gain or advantage.
Compliance with Laws and Regulations in line with DRA regulation 2:
• Compliance with all relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards related to sports betting and gambling is mandatory.
• Individuals associated with the PDC must report any potential legal or regulatory violations related to betting activities promptly.
Consequences of Non-Compliance in line with DRA regulation 1.4:
• Violations of this code of conduct will result in disciplinary actions, which may include warnings, fines, suspension, termination of contracts or partnerships, or legal consequences as appropriate.
• Non-compliance with the code of conduct may also result in reputational damage to individuals and the PDC as an organisation.
Education and Training:
• The PDPA and DRA will make informational assets and educational programmes available to all stakeholders to raise awareness of the risks associated with betting partnerships and to promote ethical behaviour.
• Resources and support will be offered to individuals to understand their responsibilities and obligations under this code of conduct.
Regular Review and Updates:
• This code of conduct will be reviewed periodically to reflect changes in laws, regulations, industry standards, or best practices.
• Feedback from stakeholders will be solicited to improve the effectiveness and relevance of the code over time.
By adhering to this code of conduct, the PDC and its stakeholders (specifically the DRA and PDPA) commit to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical behaviour in their involvement with betting partners.