Gian van Veen's view of Premier League spat with Luke Littler remains unchanged - 'I don't need a conversation with him'
Gian van Veen says he does not think he necessarily needs a conversation with Luke Littler after their spat at Night Nine of the Premier League in Manchester; His opinion on the incident has not changed; you can watch Premier League Darts live on Sky Sports every Thursday
Wednesday 15 April 2026 18:41, UK
Gian van Veen says he does not need a conversation with Luke Littler to try to bury the hatchet after their spat at Night Nine of the Premier League in Manchester.
Van Veen won a controversial match in early April where Littler reacted angrily after his opponent turned towards him when throwing match darts in a dramatic deciding leg.
The Dutchman told Sky Sports that Littler was "out of order" for "celebrating towards the crowd" which caused him to stare at Littler, who went on to miss match darts at double himself before losing the contest.
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However, Littler spoke about the incident from his perspective for the first time ahead of this week's Premier League Darts in Rotterdam, live on Sky Sports on Thursday from 6pm - where the pair could meet in the semi-finals, insisting that his celebrations were towards his girlfriend and dad.
He also said he called the Dutch No 1 a "cry baby" because he put his darts down even though the match was still going on and also stated there was "no need" for Van Veen to stare at him when he still had not thrown his three darts.
Hearing Littler's perspective has not changed Van Veen's opinion on the incident, but he insists there are no hard feelings.
"It is a difficult one. For myself, not really [I don't need a conversation]. He said his piece the other day. I still have the same view as I had two weeks ago when it all happened," Van Veen said.
"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 will see how it goes."
"He has got his opinion and he is entitled to it. I still have mine," Van Veen added.
"I have looked back at it, I have seen the videos and I still stand by my opinion.
"It is what it is and we just have to go forward with it."
Van Veen has been front and centre of the darting needle over the last couple of weeks and while he relishes the aggro in the sport in general, he prefers being an onlooker rather than a participant.
"I enjoy it, but only if I'm not involved. I think that's the best for me," Van Veen said.
"I think it is good for the sport to have a bit of needle here and there, but you never want to be involved.
"Of course, I am looking forward to the next time I'm playing him. He will probably be fired up even more, he will probably average 110 or 112 against me but that is how good he is.
"I am especially looking forward to playing him next, hopefully tomorrow.
"For sure [we can be friends in the future]. Like I said, there is no hard feelings from my side.
"It all happened in the heat of the moment and he has got his opinion, I have got mine, that is how it goes."
Van Gerwen: Everyone is making something out of nothing
Michael van Gerwen believes too much is being read into the incident between Littler and his Dutch compatriot resulting in the needle being seen as bigger than it was.
The 'Green Machine' said that, if that were a big incident, then he and Phil Taylor would have been in the paper every week after their fiery clashes.
"You all know there's been a million incidents," he said.
"People like to make it a story, people love to write about things, try to make it big.
"You know I did a lot of interviews over the years, I know exactly what you want to hear out of my mouth. I know that but I'm not going to say it. This is absolutely nothing.
"Nothing really happened. Otherwise, I could be in the paper with Phil Taylor every week guys, you know that.
"It's also emotions, things like that. It happens."
Could Littler vs MVG spiral?
Speaking on the podcast Love The Darts, Michael Bridge and Chris Murphy discussed the spat between Van Veen and Littler.
Commentator and presenter, Murphy said: "It's actually whether we can park it and move on. It seemed to spill over not just from the night it happened but into the next week it's about whether Littler can put that to one side and get back to what he's good at which is winning a lot of darts matches."
"Littler likes the WWE pantomime villain. I don't see any problem with needle whatsoever. Gian is a nice, mild-mannered guy and I think it didn't help in terms of what Luke did. I'd say 99.9 per cent of those people booing him, if they see him outside, they'll want a picture," said Bridgey.
"It did affect him because you look at that average [83.0 against Stephen Bunting in Brighton] and he couldn't wait to get out of there. That would be my concern going forward. I don't want it to spiral out of control."
Warrington arrowsmith Littler opened up about heading to Rotterdam, where he is fully expecting a frosty welcome from the Dutch natives.
He told the website Online Darts: "I'm expecting the worst anyway. When I go to Liverpool, go to Leeds, just expect the worst. If the crowd's not that bad, then you take it on the chin but I expect the worst.
"Even in Brighton when everyone was booing me, I just shrugged my shoulders, and in my head, I was like, 'it's been a week, why haven't you forgot about it?' I didn't react to the fans during the game.
"In Rotterdam, I will give it a bit if I win. I'm sure I will get booed. I'm learning, I just play my game and see how it plays out."
Littler added: "I can be as good as I want. I didn't have much preparation for Brighton. I didn't want to be there because of the fans, but that's going to happen. I'm sure this week will be the same [from the crowd].
"I'll definitely somehow get better. Hopefully we need to get a few more points on the board, a few nightly wins.
"Like Jonny said, 'I'm chasing him now'. Jonny [Clayton] said he's only bothered about top four, so I can definitely go chasing for that top spot again.
"I'll definitely come alive and hopefully I can come alive these next few weeks."
Van Veen: I was there for Van Barneveld's legendary walk-on, I want that moment too!
While Van Veen is in his first year on the Premier League, he is no stranger to Thursday's venue after attending the first ever Premier League night at the Rotterdam Ahoy back in 2016.
He has special memories of watching Raymond van Barneveld's famous walk-on on that night and cannot wait to have that moment for himself.
"I am very excited. As a kid, the first time it was ever held in the Ahoy Rotterdam, I was there in the crowd with the legendary Raymond van Barneveld walk-on," Van Veen told Sky Sports.
"Now to get to experience that myself, it is something I am very much looking forward to, especially as Dutch No 1 one, world No 3, it is a dream coming true.
"My only hope for Rotterdam was to not play Michael [van Gerwen] in the quarters so I can experience it on my own, thankfully it didn't happen.
"So I can experience it on my own and to walk out on that stage is going to be something I'm really looking forward to and I'll probably discuss with Michael a little bit how it feels like, and so I can be a little bit prepared."
What's happening on Premier League Night 11 in Berlin
The BetMGM Premier League moves across the English Channel, as Rotterdam hosts another crucial night of action.
Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen will host Luke Humphries on his first Premier League night on home soil, as home hero Michael van Gerwen faces Jonny Clayton.
Luke Littler locks horns with Gerwyn Price in a crucial battle near the top of the table, while Stephen Bunting hopes to make further inroads towards the Play-Offs as he takes on Josh Rock.
Ranking points are awarded per night - with five to the winner, three to the runner-up and two to the semi-finalists - to form the league table from which the top four players will progress to Finals Night at The O2 in London on Thursday May 28.
Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday until May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
