The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has approved World Bowls’ application for Recognised International Federation (RIF) status, which is conditional on completing the merger activity with the International Bowls for the Disabled.

In a joint media statement, the President of International Bowls for the Disabled (IBD) Owen James and the World Bowls President Brett O’Riley, acknowledged the significance of the IPC decision while also recognising the work to be done in the next few months towards finalising the merger of their two organisations.

Owen James said: “This decision by IPC recognises the strong strategic direction that the IBD and World Bowls have been going on for the past 24 months, as we look to work more closely to grow the number of physical, vision and intellectual impaired players around the world. Merging with World Bowls will enable this growth, taking advantage of their investment in a number of initiatives including the World Bowls Academy and their regional development programme”.

“From recent joint activity we have undertaken together in West Africa in Ghana, we can see huge potential to bring more physical, vision and intellectual impaired people into our sport. This includes young boys and girls not able to take part in other sports being able to enjoy the mental and physical benefits of bowls.”

Mr James also said the Ghana Armed Forces are looking to use bowls as a development sport for their enlisted personnel, including for physical rehabilitation.

“The soon to be launched World Bowls Academy will enable us to train Classifiers and Coaches for these players, a current bottleneck to expanding the disabled playing ranks”, said Mr James.

Brett O’Riley said the IPC’s decision was an important step towards bowls being considered for Paralympic Games inclusion as only International Federations and Recognised International Federations are permitted to apply to be part of the Paralympic Games sport programme.

“Para bowls last featured at the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games and we now have many more World Bowls and IBD countries and para players, with the potential to substantially grow both in the next few years. Much of that growth will come in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. This is through our development programme, using “short mat bowls” as the entry level to our game, working alongside the World Short Mat Bowls Council and manufacturers”.

Mr O’Riley added the aspiration is to see bowls return to the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games, the largest bowls playing country in the world.

James and O’Riley said they hoped to have the merger process concluded by the end of 2025, with an updated Member charter developed to integrate all aspects of the intent of the two organisations.

They also highlighted a number of other short-term opportunities for IBD and World Bowls. One of those is the inaugural World Bowls Cup that will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November this year. This will feature integrated teams with able-bodied and para players representing 12 countries, in a unique format which it is hoped will be replicated as an annual event. Open and Para Bowls will also be one of the 10 sports on the programme for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

For more information regarding the World Bowls, contact: Neil Dalrymple, CEO, World Bowls, ceo@worldbowls.com