Raymond van Barneveld has opened up on his row with Luke Littler after he was alleged to have told the teenage sensation to something he denies

Raymond van Barneveld tells all on Luke Littler ‘row’ with darts legend receiving backlash

Raymond van Barneveld has opened up on his row with Luke Littler after he was alleged to have told the teenage sensation to something he denies

Luke Littler and Raymond van Barneveld during the World Championship in December
Luke Littler and Raymond van Barneveld during the World Championship in December (Image:
Raymond van Barneveld has revealed he did not tell Luke Littler to “f*** off” after he previously said he was ignored by the teenage sensation.

Littler has emerged as one of the best darts players on the planet following his impressive run to the World Championship final, including a win over Van Barneveld. Since that, Littler was named in the eight-man Premier League line-up and is currently top of the table heading into Night 10 in Birmingham.

The 17-year-old has claimed before that five-time world champion Van Barneveld is his darting idol. The Dutchman won his first Players’ Championships since 2021 in March, coming out on top in Hildesheim after defeating Stephen Bunting in the final. He is ranked 30th in the world.

However, Van Barneveld slammed Littler in a scathing interview last month, claiming the youngster had not responded to a few messages he sent before allegedly telling him to “f*** off”. Now, Barney has denied he said the offensive remark and has apologised to Littler’s management team.

Raymond van Barneveld, 56, slams Luke Littler, 17, for ignoring his text messages

Littler pulls out of tournament due to family commitments amid replacement plan
He told Online Darts: “It was really weird. The guy was with me on the phone and he was talking about Luke Littler. I said he was a really quiet guy, maybe shy, I don’t know him that good (sic). I played him at the Worlds but I don’t see him that often, I’m not in the Premier League.

“I’ve only met him a couple of times. So he’s really quiet, I sent him a couple of text messages during the Worlds, no reply. I can understand because he’s busy and maybe he got thousands of text messages.

“So I spoke to him in Den Bosch at the World Series and said ‘I sent you a couple of text messages to congratulate you but no response’. He said ‘Ray, sorry, you need to send me a normal SMS, I don’t do WhatsApp, I do normal SMS’. So ok. After Wieze I text him for the win and said congratulations on your win – no response again.

Raymond van Barneveld and Luke Littler went head-to-head at the World Championship in December
Raymond van Barneveld and Luke Littler went head-to-head at the World Championship in December ( Image: Getty Images)
“So I said to the [journalist] ‘I don’t know, I tried to contact him a couple of times, wish him luck, wish him all the best and congratulate him’. Every time no response and he’s telling everyone that I’m his biggest idol and Phil Taylor.

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