"He spent 28 days in rehab and he has now spent 100 days clean": Return imminent for Dom Taylor after drugs ban with WDF events likely

Dom Taylor is working hard on his return to the world of darts after facing a difficult personal struggle in recent months. The 28-year-old English darts player, nicknamed ‘The Tower’, has now been clean for over a hundred days after completing a rehabilitation programme following his doping suspension.

Taylor was handed a six-month ban earlier this year after testing positive for cocaine and cannabis during the 2026 World Darts Championship. The Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) confirmed at the time that the Englishman had admitted to breaching anti-doping rules.

The news hit like a bombshell within the darts world. For years, Taylor had been regarded as a top talent and after his first ban had a tie with Jonny Clayton on the horizon at the World's. However, the positive test dealt a significant blow to both his career and his private life.

As if that were not enough, it also turned out to be his second offence within a short space of time. At the end of 2024, Taylor had already received a one-month suspension for a previous breach of anti-doping rules. Under the applicable UK Anti-Doping regulations, a heavier sanction therefore followed automatically.

Manager Mac Elkin, who runs The Sportsman Management Company and has long managed many of the top players in the world of darts was asked about the positive test on the latest episode of the Weekly Dartscast.

“It’s soul-destroying for me. It was hard to come back from it and it was hard for me to speak to Dom," said Elkin on the Weekly Dartscast. I think it took about three or four weeks after the Worlds until we spoke. I was so disappointed in him.

“I am not going to go deep into it but Dom has got a problem. He had a problem. He got done the first time, we thought he was okay, obviously he wasn’t and we didn’t know. We couldn’t tell he was on drugs or taking anything. It was a recreational drug so he took it when he was with certain people in certain environments.

“He never ever took it at darts as far as I believe and when he told me that, I do believe him. When he tested positive it was obviously before the Worlds had started because the reading was so low they could tell when he took it. But again, it was really disappointing because I don’t know why you would jeopardise not just him but my money as well.”

Elkin went on to say it was not only the issue of the positive test, it was that given his role of a manager he had long prepared for the coming year. He said that he booked flights long in advance for Taylor thinking he'd be playing ProTours this year.

With his ban and losing his Prize Money, he lost his Tour Card and can't play until July and while getting Taylor clean was the main cause of concern, Elkin shared the harsh reality of this occurring.

“It’s cost me a lot of money because I booked all the hotels and paid for all of it in advance. I have booked this year’s hotels and his flights to Germany this year. I even booked business class for him as a treat.

“Then that happens. The hotels were fine because I could change it to Adam Gawlas’ name because he has a Tour Card. When I spoke to Dom he was in tears and couldn’t apologise enough. I went, look, at the end of the day I was disappointed because you have done it twice. But I’m not going to judge you, you have got a problem and we need to sort it. The PDPA stepped in and they really looked after him.

Now he is 100 days clean and even more so according to Elkin and that he is looking forward to when he can return with the WDF in mind. He later said that despite warnings from others he plans unless proved wrong to stand by Taylor and a new contract will be offered if he can prove that he can keep it up.

“He went into rehab through Sporting Chance. He spent 28 days in rehab and he has now spent 100 days clean, probably more now actually.

“He hasn’t drunk, still throwing darts and looking forward to July when he can start playing competitive.

“Who knows where he’ll be in July. He wants to play a few WDF events after July — we are looking at Gibraltar.”