Dutch trans darts player Noa-Lynn van Leuven has announced her immediate retirement from professional darts, following the Professional Darts Corporation’s (PDC) surprise ruling banning transgender women from competing in its sanctioned women’s events. In an emotional statement released Monday, van Leuven promised to challenge the decision in court.
“I’ve worked so damn hard for years just to get here,” van Leuven said. “I showed up. I competed. I respected the sport — every game, every single day, yet I’ve been forced to retire. We will meet in court.”
The PDC’s new eligibility criteria, published late last week, state that only athletes whose sex was recorded as female at birth may compete in the PDC Women’s Series and Women’s World Championship. The governing body cited “fairness and competitive integrity” after a review of participation data.
For van Leuven, 28, who rose rapidly through the WDF and PDC Challenge Tour ranks, the ruling ends a dream she says she sacrificed everything to achieve.
“This isn’t about trophies,” she wrote on social media. “This is about whether someone like me has the right to exist in a sport I love. I never had an unfair advantage. I proved that every time I stepped to the oche.”
The PDC has not yet commented on van Leuven’s statement or the threatened legal action. Legal experts suggest she could challenge the ban under human rights and gender identity protections in Dutch and European law.
Her lawyer, speaking anonymously, confirmed that papers are being prepared for the European Court of Human Rights if necessary, calling the ban “a disproportionate and unscientific exclusion.”
The story continues to divide the darts world. Some female players have privately supported the PDC’s move; others have called it a betrayal of inclusivity.
Van Leuven ended her statement with a direct address to the PDC board: “You haven’t seen the last of me. Not on the board — in the courtroom.”
