Luke Humphries reacts to controversial new darts event and tables £1m demand

Luke Humphries has thrown his full support behind the PDC's controversial decision to stage a tournament in Saudi Arabia. It was confirmed on Monday that professional darts will hold its inaugural competition in the Middle Eastern nation in January, forming part of the World Series of Darts.

The sport's elite including Humphries and world champion Luke Littler are expected to take part in the event, which has drawn criticism from some. But following his 2-0 triumph over Nathan Aspinall at the World Grand Prix, world No.1 Humphries has endorsed darts' landmark expansion to Saudi Arabia.

Speaking to SportsBoom, Humphries declared: "As long as he pays as much as he does for the snooker and boxing, I don't care! Obviously, this is my job. I know a lot of people obviously think that it's not the greatest thing, but I think it is good. I'm happy to play in there. We're trying to grow the sport around the world and Saudi Arabia seems to be this new hotspot."

'Cool Hand Luke', 30, added: "If I'm picked, I'm there wherever it is, if it's there, if it's Japan, if it's South Africa, if it's Australia, I go. If it's a good success, then it's great. If it's not a success then who knows, but yeah, I'm just going to turn up, be there and hopefully it's a million pound for the winner!"

He added: "There are so many different formats and stuff like that. People want Ryder Cups, Royal Rumbles, all these types of things. So, they can't complain if we go there and do something different.

"It's growing the sport in different ways, but making it do different things and obviously just playing 501 and all the time can be quite a bit boring for people, maybe we need something different. If it's Quadro boards, if it's 1,001 best of one, I don't care."

Humphries revealed he wouldn't take a stance against competing in Saudi Arabia, saying: "I mean to be honest; I didn't really have a thought on it until one or two days ago when it [the news] came out. I'm just a darts player. I'm here to play. If I get asked to play and get invited to play, that's all I'm doing. Wherever the PDC takes it, I'm going to go."

The Gulf State event will break new ground for darts, with the tournament set to be completely alcohol-free due to Saudi's stringent prohibition laws. Social media users had mixed reactions to the competition's announcement, with several questioning the potential atmosphere at such a "sober" occasion. PDC president Barry Hearn stated to Sky Sports last week: "If we can't drink in a country where we must respect their traditions and their laws, we don't drink."