Darts Federation Implements Strict Gender Eligibility Policy, Banning Trans Women from Female Tournaments
The World Darts Federation (WDF) has introduced a new gender-eligibility policy that instantly restricts participation in its women’s and girls’ ranking tournaments and cups. Under the revised rules, only players who were “recorded female at birth” will be permitted to compete in these categories. This policy effectively bars transgender women from participating in women’s events. Transgender men are eligible to compete in women’s tournaments provided they are not undergoing hormone treatment.Both transgender women and transgender men are eligible to compete in the open category.
This new guideline will impact players like Noa-Lynn van Leuven, a prominent Dutch darts player who has secured multiple women’s titles. Van Leuven will no longer be eligible for WDF women’s tournaments under the updated regulations.
The WDF announced the policy change following a vote at its General meeting in September. the majority of its member organizations, which comprise national darts organizing bodies, voted in favor of limiting participation in women’s and girls’ tournaments to individuals assigned female at birth.In a statement, the WDF acknowledged that these changes might present challenges for athletes competing in their registered gender.The federation has directly communicated with its member countries to facilitate discussions with affected players.
The inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports has been a contentious issue for several years.This debate intensified in February when former President Donald Trump signed an executive order that prohibited transgender women and girls from competing in female sports. The order stated that allowing transgender women to compete in athletic events aligned with their gender identity was “demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”
Following this executive order, numerous national and international sports organizations have implemented bans or restrictions on the participation of transgender women in women’s sports. These include the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, World athletics Council, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
