"The unions say she meets all the requirements" - Vincent van der Voort leaps to defence of Noa-Lynn van Leuven

The presence of Noa-Lynn van Leuven in the Dutch women's national team continues to be the talk of the darting world. Latest to weigh in with their opinions is Vincent van der Voort.

Last week Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graaf announced that they no longer want to be part of the Dutch national team. This is because they do not believe transgender players have a right to play on the women's side of the game. Van Leuven herself underwent a transition from male to female when she was seventeen.

Read also

NDB responds to controversy in women's darts: ''We follow the rules and she meets all the requirements''

"I do understand Anca and Aileen," Van der Voort told NOS.nl. "As a woman you feel you have to compete against a man, that's logical. But I also understand Noa, she only does what is allowed. If they told me last week that bald men would be allowed to compete in women's tournaments from now on, I would go too!"

"If the unions say she meets all the requirements, both ladies have nothing to say," Van der Voort continued.

Van der Voort was still in contact with Van Leuven last weekend. "I sent her a message to congratulate her on her performance and to ask how she's doing. She does get a lot to deal with and people sometimes forget that she is also just a human being. Last week she won a tournament on the Challenge Tour where almost only men were present and even then she gets nothing but hate messages. I find that very bad."

Read also

"You don't belong at a tournament and I hope you drop dead" - Noa-Lynn van Leuven faces increasingly negative comments