Michael van Gerwen gives emphatic view on Luke Littler row ahead of Premier League night 11

Lewis Henderson
Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:05:31 +0000

Michael van Gerwen has given his view on Luke Littler and Gian van Veen's bust-up in Manchester ahead of night 11 in the Premier League of Darts.

Speaking ahead of its return in Rotterdam, the Dutchman feels the incident has been overblown, explaining that such moments happen at the top level of the sport.

The flashpoint occurred when Littler appeared to celebrate after Van Veen missed a match dart, before gesturing for his opponent to return to the oche.

Their encounter concluded with an icy handshake, with further exchanges continuing on social media afterwards.

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Speaking ahead of his match against Jonny Clayton, who leads the Premier League table, Van Gerwen explained that these situations have happened several times before.

He said: "Listen, you all know there have been a million incidents over the years.

"People like to make a story out of it. People love to write about things, try to make them bigger and try to get answers out of you.

"I've done enough interviews to know what you want to hear from me, but I'm not going to say it. Nothing really happened."

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Comparing the moment to his clashes with 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor, Van Gerwen said: I'd have been in the papers every week with Phil Taylor. It's also emotion. Things like that happen."

Littler has denied celebrating the missed dart, but Van Veen remains firm in his assessment that the world champion's conduct was "childish".

Nevertheless, the Dutchman harbours no hard feelings towards his rival and is content to draw a line under things.

Asked whether they needed to clear the air, Van Veen replied: "It's a difficult one. Like for myself, not really. He said his piece the other day.

"I still have the same view as I had two weeks ago when it all happened, and if he wants to bury the hatchet, then fine.

"I don't have any hard feelings towards him, and I don't know how it is the other way around, but we'll see how it goes.

"He's got his opinion, and he's entitled to it. I still have mine, I still have the same opinion as I had two weeks ago, straight after the incident happened.

"I've looked back at it, I've seen the videos, and I still stand by my opinion, and you know, it is what it is, and we'll just have to go forward with it."

The rivalry could be renewed in the semi-final this evening, where Van Veen would have home advantage.

The 23-year-old sees the possibility of a future friendship with Littler and hopes the pair can face each other again soon.

Asked whether they could be friends, he said: "For sure. Like I said, there's no hard feeling from my side.

"It's all happening in the heat of the moment and of course, you know, he's got his opinion, I've got mine but yeah, that's how it goes."