Darts Star Disqualified From World Championship Is Handed Immediate Suspension
Dom Taylor has received a suspension from darts after recording an adverse drugs test finding at the 2026 World Darts Championship.
Taylor was disqualified from the World Championship after it was announced that he had recorded an 'adverse analytical finding' from a test conducted prior to his first round win over Oskar Lukasiak.
The 27-year-old issued a lengthy apology on his Facebook page following the announcement of the failed test.
He had his prize money from the tournament provisionally removed from the PDC's Order of Merit pending an internal hearing, which dropped him outside of the top 64 of the rankings.
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That hearing has been heard on January 7 by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA), who have punished Taylor with a six-month ban from the sport.
He has also had his prize money from the World Championship stripped and, as such, will lose his PDC tour card for the 2026 season.
He must also pay the undisclosed costs of the proceedings.
In a statement, the DRA say they are 'satisfied that the ingestion of the prohibited substance took place out of competition'.
Taylor, who previously served a one-month ban for a separate failed drugs test back in 2024, admitted a breach of the sport's anti-doping rules.
The DRA's statement reads: "On Friday 19th December 2025 the Chairman of the DRA suspended Dominic Taylor following the failure of a drugs test.
"Taylor was tested at the World Darts Championship on 14th December 2025 and returned a positive sample for a banned substance.
"His case was subject to a full hearing before the DRA Disciplinary Committee on 7th January 2026. He admitted the breach of the Anti-Doping Rules.
"Although he had tested positive in competition, the Committee was satisfied that the ingestion of the prohibited substance took place out of competition.
"The sanction available to the Committee is laid down by the UKAD Anti-Doping Rules 2021. Where a player is found to have breached the Anti-Doping Rules for a second time and the ingestion was out of competition, the stipulated sanction applicable to his case is a six-month period of ineligibility as at 10.9 of the UKAD Anti-Doping Rules 2021.
"Accordingly, and taking into account all of the evidence, the Committee were satisfied that Mr Taylor's ingestion of both cocaine and cannabis occurred out of competition and was not following the commencement of the World Championship on 11th December 2025.
"Following on from this finding, the Committee has determined that as this is Mr Taylor's second offence, then under these Rules, he must serve a six-month ban in line with 10.9 (a) and 10.9 (b) of UKAD Anti-Doping Rules 2021."
Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship
Ryan Smart