The 2021 European Tour season will conclude this coming weekend with the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, after which the field for the Cazoo European Championship will be confirmed.
Due to ongoing restrictions, the European Tour season has been shortened in 2021, with Gerwyn Price having won the inaugural Hungarian Darts Trophy earlier this month in the opening event.
The Gibraltar Darts Trophy at the new Europa Sports Park complex will mark the second and final £140,000 event from September 24-26.
The PDC can confirm that it will not be possible to schedule a third event in 2021, although plans are being made for a return to a 13-event series across Europe in 2022.
Following consultation with the PDPA, the PDC can confirm that players who had previously qualified for a potential third 2021 European Tour event will now see that carried over to the first 2022 tournament.
"Whilst we can look forward to the Gibraltar Darts Trophy this coming weekend, it is disappointing for us that we were not able to stage any additional European Tour events this year," said PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter.
"There has been a great deal of hard work involved in enabling two European Tour events to take place, beginning with the great success of our first event in Hungary recently.
"By moving the qualifiers for a third European Tour event of 2021 into next year, we wanted to ensure that the players who had secured qualification received a reward for that and the chance to compete in an event at the next available opportunity.
"We are currently working with PDC Europe to confirm a 13-event European Tour in 2022 which will see such an important part of the PDC calendar make a full return."
The 32-player field for the Cazoo European Championship will be confirmed following the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, based on the top 32 players from the final European Tour Order of Merit.
Any ties for position will be split as per PDC Rule 3.2, taking into account prize money won in Gibraltar, then in Budapest and, if a tie still remains, from position on the main PDC Order of Merit. Any further tie would be split by a Play-Off.
The Gibraltar Darts Trophy will be broadcast in PDCTV from September 24-26, alongside coverage of the PDC Women's Series on September 25-26. Subscription options will include Event Pass and Day Pass options, plus Annual and Monthly Subscriptions.