Female darts players who refuse to compete against men have been threatened with disciplinary action by the sport’s international governing body.
The World Darts Federation issued a statement announcing the policy ahead of this year’s World Championships.
“Ahead of an important period in the WDF calendar with regional cups, the World Masters, and the World Championships, the WDF wishes to clarify its position on player withdrawals,” the organization wrote.
“Once the first dart has been thrown in a tournament, any player that subsequently withdraws from playing a match may be considered to be bringing the game into disrepute and could face disciplinary action.
“This stance has been taken to suitably protect our member countries, their tournaments, and tournament sponsors, as well as to preserve the integrity of the WDF ranking system.”
The crackdown on withdrawals comes months after a woman forfeited a match against Dutch trans thrower Noa-Lynn van Leuven at the Denmark Open.
Lynne Pinches, a British female thrower, took to X to blast the federation’s decision.
“This is Darts,” Pinches wrote. “Punishing women for conceding a match to protect their own mental health is nothing short of disgusting. They will be disciplined so they behave like good girls.”
Deta Hedman gave up a chance to win a major title in May by forfeiting her match against van Leuven. A three-time World Championship finalist, Hedman has been outspoken against allowing meant to compete against women.
“This subject [is] causing much angst in the sport I love,” Hedman wrote to the Save Women’s Sport campaign. “People can be whoever they want in life, but I don’t think biological-born men should compete in women’s sport.”
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