Luke Littler will not feature in the Sidemen Charity Match at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, after YouTube star KSI confirmed the darts champion's request was rejected. The annual fixture, which is sold out, sees content creators and influencers compete, and KSI made clear that only such figures are permitted to take part.
In early February, Littler responded to a Sidemen Instagram post announcing that tickets had sold out within hours, writing: "Get me in the team Sidemen." However, during an appearance on Capital FM in March, KSI said: "I have not responded and he's not in." The 32-year-old explained that the decision was not personal, but based on a long-standing principle.
"It sounds so bad, but we only have content creators on the Sidemen Charity Match," KSI said. "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." He added that even if Justin Bieber wanted to play, the answer would still be no, because "content creators only" is the rule.
This year's Sidemen roster includes Zerkaa, W2S, Vikkstar123, TBJZ, Deji, ChrisMD and xQc, with Jack Joseph managing the team. The YouTube Allstars XI, managed by Calfreezy, features Sketch, AngryGinge, KSI, Max Fosh, Mrwhosetheboss, NYKchazza and Danny Aarons, among others.
The match kicks off at 3pm and will raise funds for the charities Bright Side and M7 Education, the latter founded by Sidemen member Simon 'Miniminter' Minter and his brother Nick.
