Dutch darts player Van Leuven saddened by trans women ban

Dutch darts player Noa-Lynn van Leuven has spoken out for the first time about the World Darts Federation’s decision to exclude transgender women from women’s tournaments, saying she is “personally affected” and saddened by the move.

The 28-year-old is no longer allowed to compete in WDF women’s events, after the federation adopted a policy to restrict eligibility to women who were assigned female at birth.

“This decision does affect me personally — though, thankfully, not too severely at this point in time. But still, it hurts,” she said on Instagram.

“It is another loss for the trans community in sport,” Van Leuven said. “That breaks my heart. As a trans person in the darts world, I know how important inclusion is—not just on paper, but also in practice.”

She criticised the federation for failing to recognise the people behind the labels. “It’s disheartening to see another policy built around so-called ‘fairness’ that ends in exclusion. My heart goes out to all the athletes affected.”

The change means Van Leuven, one of the few openly transgender players on the international circuit, is no longer eligible to take part in WDF women’s competitions, despite meeting the gender criteria of the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA), which oversees the sport more broadly.

She remains eligible to compete in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where she has already broken new ground.

Last year, Van Leuven became the first Dutch woman to qualify for the PDC World Championship, and she played in the Women’s World Matchplay in Blackpool last Sunday.

The issue of trans women’s participation in elite sport has led to rule changes in several disciplines. World Athletics and World Aquatics are among the organisations to exclude transgender athletes who went through male puberty from women’s international competitions.