Darts authority bans transgender women from women’s tournaments

The Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) has banned transgender women from competing in women’s darts tournaments, in a landmark policy shift that has immediately forced the sport’s most prominent transgender player into what she describes as an involuntary retirement.

The DRA announced its new Eligibility Policy and Rules effective from April 5, 2026, following a review of its Trans and Gender Diverse Policy that it began in 2025. The review included commissioning a scientific report from Dr Emma Hilton, an academic developmental biologist, as well as consideration of extensive legal advice and recent UK court rulings.

“As a result of its review, the DRA is satisfied that to achieve fair competition in darts, only biological females should be eligible to compete in women’s tournaments regulated by DRA Rules,” the authority said in a statement, covering events including the PDC Women’s Series.

The DRA added that it had consulted with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the Professional Darts Players’ Association (PDPA) in developing the new policy and rules. Transgender players will continue to be eligible to compete in open tournaments across all affiliated organisations.

Dr Hilton’s report concluded that “multiple, small-magnitude sex differences accumulate to generate male advantage over females in darts,” leading to her expert scientific opinion that darts is a “gender-affected sport” within Section 195 of the Equality Act 2010.

The DRA’s review also took into consideration the judgment of the UK Supreme Court on April 16, 2025, in the For Women Scotland case, and the subsequent case of Harriet Haynes and the English Blackball Pool Federation in August 2025, two landmark rulings that have reshaped how sporting bodies across Britain interpret sex-based eligibility rules.

The new regulations also come weeks after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that only biological female athletes, whose gender has been determined by a one-time gene-screening test, will be eligible to compete in women’s events at the Olympics.

The policy immediately ended the women’s career of Noa-Lynn van Leuven, the 29-year-old Dutch player who has been the face of transgender inclusion in professional darts. Van Leuven began competing in women’s events in 2022, six years after starting her transition, and in 2024 made history as the first openly transgender woman to compete at the PDC World Darts Championship. She has also won six PDC Women’s Series titles.

In a tearful video posted on Instagram, van Leuven revealed she had learned of the decision by email. “I just got an email, apparently I just got retired,” she said. “Not by choice but because I am no longer allowed to compete. The DRA just decided that trans women are no longer allowed in women’s events which basically means I’m out.”

“I’ve worked so damn hard for years just to get here. I showed up, I competed. I respected the sport every game, every single day. And now, with just one decision, I’m being told I don’t belong anymore. This isn’t just about me. This is another huge hit for the trans community,” she said. In a written message accompanying the video, she added: “This isn’t the end. I’m not done fighting.”

The decision has not come without precedent of internal disagreement. In 2024, two Dutch players, Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra quit their national women’s team because they did not want to compete alongside van Leuven.

Reigning WDF Women’s World Champion Deta Hedman was among those who had publicly called for the kind of change the DRA has now enacted, arguing that it was necessary to achieve fair competition in the Women’s Series.

The DRA said it would continue to monitor developments in relation to transgender participation in sport and committed to reviewing the eligibility policy at least annually.

The ruling places professional darts alongside an accelerating wave of sports governing bodies worldwide that have moved to restrict women’s competition to biological females — a trend that is reshaping policy across athletics, swimming, cycling, rugby, and now darts, amid ongoing and unresolved debates about inclusion, fairness, and the rights of transgender athletes.