Luke Littler issues statement after picture of teen darts star sparked criticism
Littler takes part in the biggest match of his career tonight at the World Darts Championships
by Dylan James · Wales OnlineRising darts star Luke Littler has issued an apology after posing with an issue of The Sun newspaper.
Littler will face darting legend Raymond van Barneveld on Saturday night at the World Darts Championships and has become the youngest ever player to reach this stage of the competition.
The 16-year-old conducted an interview with The Sun after his fame skyrocketed, and a picture was taken of him holding up a copy of the paper on Friday.
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Hailing from Runcorn near Liverpool, fans took umbrage with Littler, with the newspaper hugely unpopular in the area. The publication have been massively scrutinised over the years due to their coverage of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
The teenager has now issued a statement. It reads: "Today a photograph of me holding up a newspaper has been published in the media. The media attention I have been getting is very new to me and I didn't fully understand at the time what I was being asked to do.
"In no way do I endorse that newspaper or the headline which accompanied the article and I sincerely apologise for any offence this has caused. I'm focusing now on my next match with Barney and would like to thank everyone for their amazing support."
Scottish darts star Gary Anderson also called out the media for their coverage of Littler's rise to fame.
Anderson said: "I'm going to say this now, we had another youngster called Josh Rock that all you press and everything else have absolutely destroyed.
"So if it ever goes t*** up with Luke, then give yourselves a pat on the back, because that's the way it's going. Let the boy play darts. I've been downstairs today, he's had cameras, Zoom calls, Sky meetings.
"Let the boy play darts. He's had a great tournament, he's done well, but what happens if it goes Pete Tong now? You boys have ruined it, haven't you? So let the boy play darts, he's 16 years old, playing well, and just like Josh Rock, a fantastic player, but you've knocked him back by two or three years.
"You have no idea how many young dart players we see coming through the system with people saying 'this is going to be the next best thing'. Pressure goes on them, all goes Pete Tong, where are they now?
"We've seen it in the past. You go through over darts in the last 10 years, how many youngsters have come through that you have all said, 'This is going to be the next big thing'. Where are they?"