Mitchell Lawrie is 15 years old, from Glasgow, and sits top of the World Darts Federation rankings. Fallon Sherrock, 32, is the only woman ever to win a match at the PDC World Darts Championship. Both are now listed among the 24 “amateurs” chosen to throw at Luke Littler on Friday for a £501,000 prize on Netflix’s first live darts event.

That is where the fan backlash began. After the line-up was unveiled on 22 October, social media filled with viewers complaining that the show had been sold as a chance for pub players and had delivered something closer to a semi-pro field. “Is this a joke? I thought it was supposed to be amateurs,” one wrote. Another asked why ranked darts players were on a bill advertised to recreational throwers.

Netflix leans on the Tour Card wording

Netflix’s answer is a technicality. In a statement issued on Tuesday, a spokesperson said the audition rules were the same for every applicant.

“The application and audition process for Beat Luke Littler was exactly the same for everyone and open only to people aged 12 and over who do not hold, and have never held, a PDC Tour Card,” the spokesperson said.

Read also: Carlos Alcaraz breaks silence after tragic bews from Spain

The statement added that the final 24 “all queued up to compete in the heats in London or Manchester, respectively, and managed to complete a leg of 501 in 24 darts or less to prove their darting ability.”

The Tour Card cut-off is the key word. Sherrock plays on the PDC Women’s Series without a Tour Card. Lawrie, at 15, is too young to have earned one. Both clear Netflix’s rule. Neither is what the average viewer pictures when a show promises amateurs.

The amateur who spent £2,000 and missed the cut

For the players who did not make it, the wording is cold. John “Dominoman” Steele, 44, flew from Somerset West near Cape Town to Manchester with his two adult children for the audition, spending about £2,000 on flights, hotels and food. He cleared the 24-dart test, sat through a group round, and was interviewed by Phil Taylor and Barry Hearn before being told by Taylor he could “definitely throw.” Steele made the final 100. He did not make the final 24.

“I feel like this was a predetermined case,” Steele told Sporting Life. “I have the feeling that I was taken for a ride.”

Read also: Goncalo Ramos reveals what Ruben Amorim told him before €80m AC Milan move

The rest of the field reads closer to the amateur premise. The 24 include a bricklayer from Suffolk, a bin collector from Bedford, a Nando’s manager from Kent, a pharmacist, a civil servant, a kindergarten teacher from Hildesheim and an Australian jockey, according to the full list published by GiveMeSport. The dispute is over the handful at the top who already have reputations on the oche.

“Beat Luke Littler” goes out live on Netflix at 7pm local time on Friday 30 October, hosted by Gary Lineker. Contestants face Littler in a 501 leg one after another, and the first to beat him wins the £501,000.

Read also: Arsenal face six-player blow ahead of crucial Liverpool showdown