Kim Huybrechts issues response to disciplinary action over Mike De Decker incident

Kim Huybrechts admits “something snapped in me” following his Belgian bust-up with Mike De Decker, and insists he is “not a hateful person”.

Huybrechts has been fined £1,500 and issued with a formal warning for threatening behaviour towards his compatriot De Decker.

The incident took place following a Players Championship event in Barnsley last November and saw Huybrechts allegedly slap De Decker across the face as the pair waited for transportation to the airport.

A leaked video of the incident surfaced on Tuesday, with an enraged Huybrechts seen to be being restrained and shouting: “I will destroy you” towards De Decker.

Huybrechts has issued his response to VTM News, admitting: “The video in question cannot be justified, it went black before my eyes.”

The 38-year-old went on to outline his version of events and explain the series of events leading up to the incident.

He remarked: “It is never nice to be reprimanded and punished for such matters, but there are two sides to every story.

“First and foremost, I would like to say that my response was wrong at all times. There have been a few words, both between Dimitri [van den Bergh] and me and Mike [De Decker] and me. This has been going on for some time, especially in the private sphere.

“In the case with Mike, my wife had posted online saying she was disappointed that Mike had said things behind my back on tour that had come to my attention. I didn’t talk to him about it at the time, because I just wanted to avoid confrontation.

“Someone from Mike’s family then called my wife, making a number of threats, including towards my children.

“As a father you always want to protect your family, especially when you hear things like that. Then something snaps in me. I was never allowed to react like that, and I was rightly reprimanded for that.

“But when it comes to my family, I’m quite sensitive. You should never have physical contact with someone when you are in an argument.”

Huybrechts says he has since buried the hatchet with De Decker and is keen to move on from the incident.

He added: “I recently played a final against Mike at a tournament. After the match I had decided to apologize, win or lose. Mike accepted this, but unfortunately this is not mentioned in the articles.

“Anyway, the people who need to know are aware, and that’s what counts. The ruling of the disciplinary committee dates from two weeks ago, and the case with Mike dates back to November.

“For me it had subsided a bit, but with the media storm everything is coming back to the surface. Not nice, not even for my family who have received certain messages on social media. I hope it settles down soon.

“We sometimes meet each other during competitions. That will sometimes lead to competitive matches. Sporty revenge. That’s just the way it goes in the sports world, you can’t agree with everyone. And unfortunately it is now the Belgians who are arguing among themselves.

“What could be the adequate solution for this? We’ll have to look at that in the future. I’m not a hateful person. For now, it’s better that we do our own thing and focus on our own careers.

“In 2024, I mainly want to focus on myself and spend as little time as possible on this, even though this is becoming difficult now.”