Luke Littler's emergence has led to a 'real live issue' for darts authorities, according to the chief executive of the Professional Darts Corporation.
The youngster burst onto the scene at the age of 16 at the World Championship and Matthew Porter admits it has created new challenges for the PDC.
Littler grabbed the attention of the nation with his performances at Alexandra Palace, beating former world champions on his way to the final.
He lost to the new world No 1 Luke Humphries in the final but has since shown that his run at the tournament was no flash in the pan.
The CEO of the PDC says Luke Littler has caused a 'real live issue' in terms of safeguarding
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Littler has hit two nine-darters already in 2024, won his first professional tournament at the Bahrain Masters and triumphed on his ProTour debut at Players Championship 1.
He has also had a steady start to his first-ever Premier League campaign, picking up five points from the first three weeks.
Littler's emergence has seen a new wave of darts fans and he is already one of the most famous players in the world.
But at just 17 years of age, PDC chief Porter admits it has brought new challenges in terms of safeguarding for the organisation.
Porter said on The Darts Show Podcast: "Yeah it's funny really, we've had a safeguarding policy for a few years and it's been gathering dust on the shelf.
"And all of a sudden now it's become a real live issue because whilst we've had the Development Tour and an association with the JDC [Junior Darts Corporation] for pretty much a decade now, we've never had a player of Luke's age and Luke's profile at the top echelons of the game.
"As you say, with that comes a responsibility, comes a duty of care regarding his safeguarding.
"We're fortunate that he's a sensible lad, we're sensible that he's got a good family around him and a good management.
"So there's no immediate concerns, he doesn't bring any baggage with him to the table.
"But it's important we keep it that way, Luke's got to be able to concentrate on his darts, everything off the board has got to be managed for him.
"The story is transforming the sport. It's attracting a new demographic, it's attracting media that we haven't had before, it's just putting darts in a different position in the mindset of the general public."
Littler has been involved in four Players Championship tournaments in the last two weeks as well as four European Tour Card Holder Qualifier events.
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Luke Littler has stunned the world of darts in recent months
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He has had to juggle those commitments ahead of preparing for Premier League action on a Thursday, with Newcastle the venue this week.
Porter says Littler's schedule will be carefully considered over the coming months.
He added: "So Luke's hopefully going to have a good career ahead of him but it's got to be done at the right pace.
"If you look there's been no invitations for Luke beyond the end of May.
Luke Littler's darts schedule will be managed carefully in the coming months
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"We are going to see how things go over the course of the next few months whilst the Premier League gets underway, he's obviously got the UK Open.
"So Luke's got an intense schedule ahead, still getting a huge amount of media demands on him as well.
"We're just going to keep the communication channels open, see how he progresses, and make sure he's in the right place to do what's right for him."
