ITS always nice to see that player, union and fan/influencer feedback can have a positive result. The European Tour has been revolutionary for PDC players giving stage time, crowd time together with money and ranking points to many who would not have earned it before.

The qualification structure for 48-player European Tour events was changed for this year, increasing the number of Tour Card Holders to 42 per event; with the top 16 from the respective PDC Order of Merit and ProTour Order of Merit being pre-qualified and joined by ten Tour Card Holder Qualifiers and six further qualifiers in the main event.

The changes caused quite a outcry across the lower reaches of game, due to the perceived lack of opportunity and fairness especially due to the qualifications for the European Championship. The revolt even landed Peter Wright in hot water for appearing not to care!

Almost all social media and personal comments were negative came to the conclusion that lower ranked players were being unfairly treated and after reflection the PDC have acted:

The PDC has reviewed the PDC Order of Merit Rules regarding European Tour events for 2024 following feedback received from the PDPA.

In the interests of sporting fairness, particularly in respect of opportunities for qualification for the European Championship, all of the 32 pre-qualified players will need to win their first match in order to receive prize money on the relevant Orders of Merit.

PDC Statement

The 2024 PDC European Tour season begins from March 8-10 with the Blåkläder Belgian Darts Open in Wieze.

—–ENDS—–

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