Paddy Power unveil World Darts Championship charity pledge after green treble 20 hoax

Paddy Power's plans to change the Treble 20 bed from red to green for this year's World Darts Championship has been revealed to be a hoax.

Instead, the bookmaker will be donating £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 scored during the tournament in a campaign that they hope will raise £1 million for the charity.

Earlier this week, the Irish bookmaker - who sponsor this year's World Championship - revealed plans to change the colour of the Treble 20 bed from red to dark green in a major change to tradition, a mooted alteration that caused great controversy with 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor highly critical of the move.

But Darts fans can rest easy in the knowledge that the board is not being tampered with. They can also cheer every 180 hit safe in the knowledge that £1,000 is going to a worthy cause.

In addition, the bookmaker and the PDC will join forces and use all their channels to challenge 180,000 fans, followers and customers in the UK to use Prostate Cancer UK’s online risk checker via prostatecanceruk.org/180-risk.

“We would like to officially apologise if we caused Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen or any of the other professional players undue stress this week. But if it grabbed the attention of them and just a fraction of the audience darts has, then it will all have been worthwhile,” Paddy Power, spokesman for the betting brand who sponsor this year’s tournament, said.

“1 in 8 men are at risk of prostate cancer, so our aim is to hit them right between the bullseyes with The BIG 180 campaign which will be unmissable this Christmas,” Power added.

Prostate Cancer UK Chief Executive Laura Kerby said: "We are thrilled to become the official charity partner of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship and thank Paddy Power and the PDC for uniting the darts community as we target this disease head on.

“This iconic tournament is a sporting staple across the festive period, and The BIG 180 will put us at the heart of the action. It will be a complete gamechanger for men and their loved ones affected by prostate cancer - one maximum at a time.”