Darts: Is world champion Luke Littler himself to blame for fans booing him?

Darts champion Littler in January at the World Cup final in London

For some time now, Darts World Champion Luke Littler has been confronted with invective cries from fans at tournaments. It's strange. The Englishman is considered a prodigy of his sport, shows first-class performances, but still seems unpopular with many fans.

The champion bears a complicity in this – at least that means the managing director of the world association PDC, Werner von Moltke.

“People always react that way when someone is successful, earns a lot of money and then is so sensitive,” von Moltke said in an interview with the Sports Information Service before the start of the Darts European Championship in Dortmund next Thursday.

Darts fans at a tournament at Alexandra Palace in London

What the PDC boss means by this: Littler had recently been booed more often at tournaments in the Netherlands and Germany. The 19-year-old then announced a boycott of competitions.

From this Thursday (19.00) Littler makes but once again a Germany exception. When it comes to the title in the Westfalenhalle, it must not be missing.

Von Moltke thinks Littler must deal with the situation more calmly. “When you come into such an industry at such a young age, you sometimes react wrongly,” von Moltke said. “At a certain age, there is a certain calm so that one does not call a boycott action after every booing call.” It will hurt him more in the long run than doing him a favor.

Recently, Littler had also responded to the invective cries of the audience with provocations at some events. This behavior may have increased the displeasure even further, says von Moltke.

Littler had moved into the World Cup final in 2024 as a 16-year-old, a year later he won the title and became an audience favorite. But as his dominance continues since then, the Darts audience, which tends to prefer underdogs, turned against Littler more and more and booed him.

In September, for example, he was knocked out at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam both in the game against local hero Danny Noppert and in the round of 16 against Nathan Aspinall. During the game against Aspinall, the referee briefly interrupted the match and warned the spectators about their behavior.

If the Dutch stay that way, I won’t play a European tour there anymore. It just makes no sense for me to travel and waste my time while being booed, he said. “I just want to play darts – and of course give autographs,” he added.

Read more about the Darts prodigy and the whistle of the fans here