The Israeli Indoor Bowls players can after all play at the World Indoor Championships in Norfolk.

The World Bowls Tour Limited (WBT) has reversed its decision to ban the Israelis from the competition following letters from UK Lawyers for Israel pointing out that their decision had been illegal.

The WBT Board has written to Zvika Hadar, President of the Professional Bowlers Association in Israel to apologise for the offence and upset caused by the withdrawal of the invitation. They explain that sufficient security has now been arranged at the venue.

The PBA wrote “…we had found ourselves in a very difficult position in relation to the security of the venue and to the competitors and other attendees.  However, over the past 48 hours we have been exploring practical ways in which our concerns could be overcome, so as to enable the invitation to PBA Israel to be reinstated. We are pleased to say that following discussions with various partner agencies, we have been able to confirm today an increase in the security presence at the event.”

They say: “We are very pleased about being able to reverse the decision to withdraw the invitation which we regrettably felt compelled to take in all the circumstances.  The sole consideration behind this difficult decision had been the safety and security of all participants, staff, and attendees involved in the tournament.”

The PBA board says that they now look forward to welcoming Daniel Alomin, Amnon Amar and Itai Rigbi to the championships in January.

Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UKLFI commented: “We are very pleased that the WBT Board has reversed its illegal decision to exclude the Israeli players. The absolute prohibition on direct discrimination in UK law is deliberate and ensures that those providing services cannot justify discrimination on grounds of pressure or threats from bigots.”