Luke Littler sees request snubbed as darts sensation banned from event | Other | Sport

Luke Littler’s request to play in the Sidemen Charity Match was categorically shut down by YouTube extraordinare KSI. The annual clash consisting of content creators and influencers is soon approaching, with the 2026 edition set to go down on April 18th at a sold-out Wembley Stadium.

At the beginning of February, the 19-year-old shared an Instagram post by the Sidemen, who had revealed to their 6.2million followers that tickets for the annual game sold out in just hours. As he tagged the group, Littler wrote: “Get me in the team Sidemen,” leaving many fans excited at the prospect of seeing the Manchester United fan trying his hand at football.

However, the possibility of that was undisputedly shut down by KSI during the 32-year-old’s appearance on Capital FM this week. After being asked whether he had responded to Littler’s request, the Britain’s Got Talent judge simply replied: “I have not responded, and he’s not in.”

He did clarify that the rejection of Littler is due to one rule the Sidemen have always followed for the game. KSI explained: “It sounds so bad, but we only have content creators on the Sidemen Charity Match.

“So we haven’t ever had a celebrity come on to play. That’s more for like Soccer Aid. You never know, maybe one day we’ll have Soccer Aid versus Sidemen.”

Insisting that snubbing Littler was not personal, KSI admitted that the biggest celebrities in the world could ask to play in it and the answer would still be a resounding no. He added: “I think for us we’re focusing more on just content creators. That’s how it’s always been, and even if Justin Bieber wanted to play, we’d go, ‘No! Content creators only!'”

The match is scheduled to kick off at 3pm and will be broadcast live on the Sidemen’s YouTube channel. It will raise money for charities Bright Side and M7 Education – the latter being founded by Sidemen member Simon ‘Miniminter’ Minter and his brother Nick.