Noa-Lynn van Leuven has been immediately barred from competing in the PDC Women’s Series, following new guidelines adopted by the PDC and drawn up by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA). The revised eligibility policy, which officially came into effect on 09/04/2026, now permits only biological women to enter DRA-regulated women’s tournaments, including the Women’s Series. As a result, Van Leuven can only compete in the open category within the PDC.
The DRA began its review in 2025, basing the new rules 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. This classification of darts as a “gender-affected sport” under the UK Equality Act 2010 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, scrapping the previous policy on transgender and gender-diverse players and replacing it with a new, clearly defined framework 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, welcoming all players—regardless of biological sex, legal sex, or gender identity—in so-called open tournaments outside the women’s category. The governing body says it will continue to closely monitor developments around transgender participation in sport, with the new policy to be reviewed annually and adjusted where necessary based on new insights and legal frameworks.
Van Leuven was previously 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, even withdrawing multiple times when she had to face Van Leuven at a women’s tournament.
