Luke Littler will be unable to compete in a PDC darts event starting on Friday — and he is not the only high-profile name affected by the rule change.
The 19-year-old is the reigning two-time PDC world champion, having claimed his second title at Alexandra Palace last month with a dominant 7-1 sets win over Gian van Veen.
Littler has already made a flying start to his 2026 campaign by lifting the World Masters, leaving him needing only the European Championship to complete darts’ career “slam” of major titles.
Littler Skipping ProTour Events
So far this season, Littler has chosen to miss all four Players Championship events, instead focusing his schedule around the Premier League rather than the ProTour.
However, he will eventually need to enter a number of ProTour tournaments later in the year if he wants to qualify for the Players Championship Finals — where he would be defending £60,000 in prize money after reaching the final in 2024.
Development Tour Ban Explained
Despite being eligible for most major PDC events, Littler is not allowed to enter the PDC’s Development Tour, which begins on Friday.
The Development Tour is designed for players aged between 16 and 24, and featured 24 events last year. The two top-ranked players at the end of the season — provided they don’t already hold one — earn a two-year PDC Tour Card.
But under the PDC’s eligibility rules, the tour is only open to players ranked outside the top 64 on the PDC’s two-year Order of Merit.
That restriction automatically rules out Littler, who is currently world number one.
He will still be eligible, however, to compete in the World Youth Championship later this year.
Rules Tightened Since 2025
The Development Tour restrictions have become stricter in recent seasons.
In 2025, players outside the top 32 were eligible to compete, with the rule taking effect immediately once a player entered the top 32.
That was seen in 2024 when Van Veen was able to play in the early Development Tour events, but became ineligible midway through the season as soon as he broke into the top 32.
Littler, meanwhile, has never been eligible to play on the Development Tour while holding an active PDC Tour Card.
He did not have a tour card before his breakthrough run to the 2024 World Championship final, which immediately pushed him up to world number 31.
Other Players Also Affected
Littler and Van Veen are not the only players impacted by the tightened eligibility rules.
The change also means 23-year-old Keane Barry, currently ranked world number 51, is blocked from entering the Development Tour as well.
The first eligible player outside the top 64 is Cam Crabtree, who won the Development Tour title in 2025. But with Crabtree currently ranked world number 67, he could soon find himself ineligible too if he climbs the rankings.
Beau Greaves — last season’s World Youth Championship and Development Tour runner-up — remains eligible and can compete if she chooses, after winning three titles in 2025.
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