Barry Hearn has warned darts stars they may have no choice but to tolerate whistling from what he described as “total nvmpties” — insisting it is simply not practical for security to remove tens of thousands of spectators from arenas.
Professional darts has recently been overshadowed by a number of high-profile incidents in which sections of the crowd have deliberately whistled while elite players are throwing at the oche, disrupting matches and drawing widespread criticism.
In Germany, referee Huw Ware has twice been forced to intervene in recent weeks, stopping play mid-match to urge fans to stop targeting players during crucial moments.
There is now a strong possibility that some Liverpool supporters could direct similar hostility toward Luke Littler when he arrives for Thursday’s Premier League night. The teenage sensation, a loyal Manchester United fan, is stepping into rival territory on Merseyside and may once again find himself on the receiving end of crowd abuse.
Littler was booed throughout his run to the final in Rotterdam last week, yet still managed to perform at a high level — and another difficult atmosphere is widely expected when he takes to the stage in Liverpool.
Hearn, whose Matchroom Sport organisation runs the Professional Darts Corporation, remains confident that this growing issue will eventually fade away. However, he accepts that, for now, there is little that can realistically be done to completely eliminate it.
The 77-year-old promoter explained that the sport ultimately has to depend on the common sense of spectators — even if that common sense is not always immediately evident.
He pointed out that over time, fans tend to realise that such behaviour is counterproductive and detracts from the overall experience of the event, both for players and for those in attendance who want to enjoy high-quality darts.
In the meantime, Hearn stressed that players must remain professional and learn to deal with these distractions, even though he personally finds the situation frustrating and far from ideal.
He also noted that attempts to control crowd behaviour can sometimes have the opposite effect. Telling fans not to do something, he suggested, often acts as a provocation — encouraging them to repeat the behaviour even more.
Hearn added that removing large numbers of spectators is simply not a viable solution. In packed venues such as Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena, ejecting thousands of people would not only be impractical but would also create further logistical chaos, making it nearly impossible to manage the event smoothly.
Ultimately, he believes the responsibility lies with the fans themselves. Rather than relying on enforcement, he urged individuals to reflect on their actions and consider whether they are contributing positively to the atmosphere — or, as he bluntly put it, behaving like “total nvmpties.”
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