Van Leuven banned with immediate effect from PDC women's tournaments; federation adopts new guidelines on transgender eligibility

Noa-Lynn van Leuven has been immediately barred from competing in the PDC Women’s Series. This exclusion follows new guidelines drawn up by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) and adopted by the PDC.

As of April 2026, only biological women are permitted to enter DRA-regulated women’s tournaments, including the PDC Women’s Series. Van Leuven can therefore only compete in the open category within the PDC.

The new rules are part of a revised eligibility policy that officially came into effect on 09/042026. The DRA began the review in 2025 and based it in part on a scientific report by developmental biologist Emma Hilton, as well as on legal advice and recent court rulings in the United Kingdom.

Central to Hilton’s report is the conclusion that small physical differences between men and women accumulate and lead to a structural advantage for men in darts. On that basis, darts is classified as a “gender-affected sport” under the UK Equality Act 2010. That designation allows participation in women’s categories to be restricted to biological women in the interest of fair competition.

The DRA states that this measure is necessary to ensure a level playing field. As a result, the previous policy on transgender and gender-diverse players has been scrapped and replaced with a new, clearly defined framework. This is applied across all affiliated organizations, including the PDC and the players’ association PDPA.

For Van Leuven, this means a forced farewell to the Women’s Series, where she has been a prominent figure in recent years and proved she could compete with the international elite.

At the same time, the DRA emphasizes that inclusivity remains an important principle. All players, regardless of biological sex, legal sex, or gender identity, remain welcome in so-called open tournaments. There they can compete without restrictions in competitions outside the women’s category.

The governing body says it will continue to closely monitor developments around transgender participation in sport. The new policy will be reviewed annually and adjusted where necessary based on new insights and legal frameworks.

Last year, Van Leuven was in the spotlight after Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra left the Dutch women’s team because they no longer wanted to be on a team with a transgender player. Earlier, Deta Hedman had also spoken out vocally against Van Leuven’s admission to the women’s circuit. Hedman even withdrew multiple times when she had to face Van Leuven at a women’s tournament.