WELCOME to the Professional Darts Corporation's 2016 Rules.
Section 1 below refers to Eligibility.
1. Eligibility
1.1 All players must be a member of the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA) to feature in the Professional Darts Corporation’s (PDC) Order of Merit. Membership is defined as either having paid an annual subscription, been awarded an Honorary membership, or, in the case of non-UK players who compete in non-UK ProTour events, having paid a supplement to their entry fee.
PDPA membership will fit in to one of the following categories:
- A Full Member is defined as a player who has joined the PDPA and holds a PDC Tour Card or a player who has qualified for an event as listed in 1.2; or can be a non-playing Full Member such as a PDPA board member or Honorary Member.
- An Associate Member is defined as a player who has joined the PDPA but does not hold a Tour Card (for example a player who attempted to win a Tour Card through Q School or non-UK based player who is a paid-up PDPA member).
- A Secondary Tour Member is a player who is only permitted to play in Challenge or Development Tour events. For the avoidance of doubt, they are not permitted to play in qualifiers for Premier or ProTour events.
- A Day Member is defined as a non-UK based player who pays a supplement to his entry fee for non-UK ProTour events or European Tour events, or relevant qualifying events.
1.2 All players who participate in the televised stages of the following events must be a full member of the PDPA: World Championship, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts (excluding BDO qualifiers) UK Open (excluding Amateur Qualifiers), European Championship, Players Championship Finals, Masters, World Series Finals, Premier League Darts.
In the event of a non-PDPA member qualifying for or being invited into an event through an Order of Merit, or a World Championship qualifier, they must join the PDPA prior to participation in the event.
1.3 All Full Members must sign and accept the PDC Player Contract and the PDPA Constitution and Code of Conduct and agree to abide by the Rules of the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) and pay any appropriate Sanction Fees to the DRA before being allowed to participate in any PDC organised event.
1.4 Any player who is not in good financial or disciplinary standing with the DRA, PDC or the PDPA or with companies involved with the DRA, PDC or PDPA will not be allowed to participate in any event until such time as they are in good standing.