He took it with humor
Soccer star booed at Darts World Cup
Updated 12/29/2025 – 12:10 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
James Maddison is known as a footballer. Now the Tottenham professional has appeared at another sporting event – and received an uncomfortable reception.
Bizarre moment on Sunday evening at the Darts World Cup in Alexandra Palace: In the third round match between the Dutch Gian van Veen and the Latvian Madars Razma (4:1), another athlete suddenly came into focus. He was then not necessarily greeted warmly by the fans in attendance.
What had happened? When the score was 1-0 for van Veen, the camera in the London venue turned towards the audience – and captured a young man wearing a cap. Shortly afterwards, the darts fans in the hall seemed to realize who it was: James Maddison, England international from Tottenham Hotspur.
The result: loud boos for the 29-year-old, who is currently unavailable to his team due to a torn cruciate ligament. The Irish betting company Paddy Power, official sponsor of the Darts World Cup, also wrote on the X platform that the fans in the hall sang “Tottenham Get Battered”. A jibe at the Europa League winner.
However, Maddison took the action with humor. In the footage, the former Leicester star can be seen having a lot of fun with the audience’s boos.
By the way, Maddison wasn’t there alone. Teammate Brennan Johnson also attended the evening session at “Ally Pally”. He had recently come on as a substitute a few minutes before the end in Spurs’ 1-0 away win at Crystal Palace. Maddison now posted a picture of Johnson on his Instagram story. He wrote: “He made it safe and sound, with Christmas points in his luggage.”