Van Leuven can no longer play in PDC Women’s Series
DRA report determines darts is ‘gender-affected sport’
Noa-Lynn van Leuven will be banned from competing in any of the Professional Darts Corporation’s women-only events with immediate effect after a ruling from the sport’s regulatory body stated only biological females can now compete in women’s tournaments.
The Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) has ruled that transgender women will no longer be permitted to compete in women’s events. Van Leuven can therefore no longer participate in the PDC Women’s Series, where she has won six titles, and will be prevented from also competing in the Women’s World Matchplay, which she was on course to qualify for this summer.
The DRA said the move came in order to “achieve fair competition in darts”. The DRA commissioned a report from Dr Emma Hilton, an academic developmental biologist who has published several papers on sex and categories in sport, which determined that darts is a “gender-affected sport”.
