Noa-Lynn van Leuven breaks silence with emotional statement after women's darts tournaments ban

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Ranked female darts player Noa-Lynn van Leuven has broken her silence after being banned from participating in women's tournaments under a new rule adopted by the World Darts Federation (WDF).

The WDF released a statement on Monday saying that only people born as females would be eligible for their women's and girls' tournaments. The decision was voted through at the governing body's September 2024 General Meeting, but has only come into force this week.

They said: "As an international federation for the sport of darts, the WDF's role is to facilitate equal opportunity and an inclusive environment for all people to participate nationally and internationally in the sport of darts, as athletes, coaches, officials, staff and other volunteers. Our existing Transgender Athlete policy was based on this principle.

"Transgender participation in darts is a complex, evolving subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in scientific studies, law, or the wishes of a majority of the WDF's Member Countries that we would review the policy and make changes where necessary."

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The 28-year-old is currently fourth in the PDC Women's Order of Merit and made history as the first openly transgender person to compete in a televised tournament when she participated in the 2023 Women's World Matchplay. A further landmark moment came for van Leuven at the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship when she was the first transgender player to gain entry to the sport's biggest tournament, where she was eliminated in the first round by Kevin Doets.

Close 'It Hurts' - Noa-Lynn van Leuven Reacts to Being Banned From Women's Tournaments By the WDF Transgender players can now only compete in the 'open' category at WDF competitions

'The Dutchess' can still compete in events organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), as they operate under different rules to the WDF. However, she will now not be able to compete in any of the WDC Women's and Girls tournaments, instead having to compete in the 'Open' category. In a statement posted to Instagram, the Dutch player admitted that her heart was broken by the rule change.

She wrote: "This past Monday, the WDF (World Darts Federation) released a new policy regarding gender eligibility. I want to take a moment to respond. This decision does affect me personally -- though, thankfully, not too severely at this point in time. But still, it hurts. Once again, it's a loss for the trans community in sports. And that breaks my heart. As a trans person in the darts world, I know how vital inclusion is -- not just on paper, but in practice. It's disheartening to see yet another policy framed around 'fairness' that ultimately results in exclusion, without truly considering the people behind the labels."

"My heart goes out to all the athletes impacted by this. We remain visible. We keep going."

While Van Leuven's current form means that she will continue to be part of the PDC women's tour moving forward, the recent ban means that she won't be able to defend the WDF Women's Europe Cup, which she helped her country win in 2024.

Related Noa-Lynn van Leuven Banned From Darts Tournaments After New Rule Introduced

Noa-Lynn van Leuven has now been banned from certain darts tournaments after a new rule was introduced earlier in the week.

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