The Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) has banned transgender women from competing in its women's events with immediate effect. The DRA, which governs the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), stated that "only biological females should be eligible to compete in women's tournaments regulated by DRA Rules." This decision follows a review of its Trans and Gender Diverse Policy that began in 2025.
The ruling directly impacts Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who in 2024 became the first transgender woman to compete in the PDC World Championship. Van Leuven said the decision had "effectively retired her" from women's competition. "I just got an email and apparently I just got retired, not by choice but because I am no longer allowed to compete," she said in a video posted on Instagram. "The DRA just decided that trans women are no longer allowed in women's events which basically means I am out." She remains eligible to play in open tournaments for men and women.
The DRA based its decision on legal advice and a commissioned report by Dr Emma Hilton, an academic developmental biologist who has published several papers on sex and categories in sport. Dr Hilton's report concluded "that multiple, small-magnitude sex differences accumulate to generate male advantage over females in darts." The DRA added that it "seeks to be inclusive" and encouraged "all players - irrespective of their biological sex, legal sex, and/or gender identity" to continue competing in open tournaments.
Sex-based rights charity Sex Matters welcomed the move, stating, "men's physical advantages in darts may be small but they all add up." The charity noted, "Darts is a male-dominated world, played in pubs and clubs, and the top darts players are all men. That's why women need their own tournaments." This follows similar bans by other organizations; last year, the World Darts Federation (WDF) banned transgender women from its women's tournaments, and last month, IOC president Kirsty Coventry announced a blanket ban on transgender women and athletes with differences in sex development (DSD) from the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
