Michael Van Gerwen will spend Christmas in London away from his family.

The darts star had planned to return to the Netherlands for Christmas following his first-round win at the PDC World Championship on Saturday before returning to the UK for the second part of the tournament.

But border restrictions being imposed by several countries to prevent people travelling to and from the UK following the discovery of a new strain of Covid-19 risked leaving him being unable to get back.

Van Gerwen, who has two young children, wrote on Twitter: “Ok, so I spend Christmas in London, with new rules today, the decision made it simple for me. Hard to leave family but they understand and encourage me for this decision. Very important event for players, @OfficialPDC @WilliamHill @SkySportsDarts and fans.”

The 31-year-old is a three-time winner of the tournament, most recently in 2019. He was beaten in last year’s final by Peter Wright.

PDC chief executive Matthew Porter said on Twitter: “We have advised non-UK players to consider remaining at the hotel over Christmas in case of travel restrictions. Most if not all look like they will do that.”