PDC CHIEFS have confirmed a controversial rule change that could affect darts superstar Luke Littler.
The world No1 is riding high after successive World Darts Championship victories.
Littler has since kicked off his 2026 campaign at the Bahrain Darts Masters, crashing out in the quarters to Gerwyn Price.
And as the season quickly heats up, he is now preparing himself for a gruelling tournament at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters.
But now, the PDC have shaken things up with a major rule change.
It affects regulations regarded the European Tour.
And the controversial switch has seen the PDC scrap seeded players in the first round based on the Main Order of Merit.
Instead, they have opted to first-round seed the top 16 of the Pro Tour Order of Merit.
It means strongly-ranked Main players are no longer automatically protected from facing their peers in the opening round.
However, it does benefit Pro Tour stars currently enjoying a fine run of form.
BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS
And the overall mood has shifted towards those performing well at the time of the draw.
Greater weighting has now been give to results in the European Tour.
Those who can put in regular strong performances will be the ones to benefit from the new change.
And fans will be focused on next month’s start in Poland, with the typically stronger players also needing to perform to keep their seeded spots.
