Noah Lynn van Leuven, one of the world’s top women’s darts players, said World Darts Federation members had voted to remove her from the women’s tournament.
The Dutch athlete, who is a transgender woman, said she learned that WDF member associations had been put to a vote on the matter at the WDF’s annual general meeting in Slovakia on Tuesday ahead of the Europa Cup tournament and was awaiting an announcement.
The WDF told Outsports that a clarification on the rules would be provided “in due course.”
Van Leuven has been cleared to compete in women’s competitions in 2022 after undergoing testing in her home country.
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She has since competed in more than 20 events regulated by the WDF, amateur darts’ governing body. Four ranking titles And then it rises 5th in the world.
The 27-year-old is also allowed to play in women-only tournaments organised by the UK-based Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), which also organises professional events overseas and offers significantly more prize money than the WDF.
Most of PDC’s events are gender-neutral and there is no indication that they are trying to restrict the participation of transgender women.
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Van Leuven posted on social media“While the European Cup opening ceremony is taking place right now, there’s a lot else going on behind the scenes… not least the movement to exclude transgender people from sport.”
“As it stands, transgender people are excluded within the WDF. When will that happen? No one knows yet! But members voted today…”
When asked by Outsports about Van Leuven’s comments, a WDF spokesperson said: “WDF executives are currently digesting the various items from Tuesday’s Annual General Meeting. Any updates to the WDF rules and playing regulations will be announced by the WDF in due course.”
The vote to exclude transgender women from women’s darts follows an amendment proposed by England Darts, which already has such a ban in place in its tournaments.
Outsports understands that not all members attended the AGM and of those who did, 20 voted in favour of the ban, 11 against and 13 abstained.
In March, the Dutch Darts Federation supported van Leuven after two players announced they were quitting the national team, citing his continued involvement with the women’s national team.
next month, The WDF issued a statement The committee said its position had not changed but that any “definitive studies” to be published would be “appropriately considered”.
The statement referred to a report presented to WDF members at last year’s annual meeting, which summarised research at the time and concluded that “more explicit research into visuospatial differences” was needed if transgender policies were to be abandoned.
In April, the lead researcher of a newly published study comparing the strength, power, and aerobic capacity of transgender and cisgender athletes advised international sports federations to “treat transgender women very differently from cisgender men” as they review their policies.
Professor Yiannis Pitsiladis told Outsports that his study “highlights the need for studies on trained individuals and athletes… studying untrained individuals or non-athletes (cisgender or transgender) is of little use.”
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Withdrawal and bullying
In May, Van Leuven was playing in the Denmark Open when Great Britain’s Deta Hedman withdrew from her quarter-final match, saying she “has no desire to play against a man in a women’s tournament.” The two had previously met three times in the PDC women’s series.
Since then, Hedman has campaigned to have transgender women barred from women’s darts.
Van Leuven told the i: In July, she said she “doesn’t feel comfortable” playing in the WDF. “Every time I play in a WDF tournament, something is going against me,” she said. “It could be bullying, or someone threw a tennis ball at me in Wales and it hit me in the face.
As a result, van Leuven said he will no longer be taking part in any WDF events in the UK.
Late August, The WDF warned the players He said he risked disciplinary action if he withdrew from the tournament “after the first dart had been thrown”.
after that, Hedman will miss the WDF World Masters in September In Hungary before it even started.
“I can’t give you a 100% guarantee on that. [of fulfilling matches]” the 64-year-old said.
Hedman is currently in Slovakia for the European Cup and is manager of the England women’s national team but is not playing in any matches. She said she was attending the annual general meeting. Post on Facebook“It was mandated by England to the WDF and supported by Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It outlined that WDF women’s darts is for both women and girls who are biologically born female.”
Meanwhile, in the PDC Women’s Series, Van Leuven is currently ranked second. Order of Merit Behind the number one women’s world ranking, Beau Greaves.
If the Dutchman maintains his place in the rankings when the series concludes in Leicester next month, he will qualify for November’s PDC Grand Slam of Darts and the PDC World Darts Championship, the game’s biggest and richest tournament, for the first time in his career.
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Source: Outsports – www.outsports.com
