Bridge Organizations
The worldwide sport governing body in bridge is the World Bridge Federation, formed 1958 as the joint effort of American Contract Bridge League and European Bridge League. In world bridge as of 2009, North America and Europe, or the ACBL and EBL, are the two largest of eight world Zones or zonal organizations, with about 160,000 and 400,000 registered players.
| Zone | Organization | Area | Member Countries | Total Membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | European Bridge League (EBL) | Europe | 47 | 393,164 |
| 2 | American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) | North America | 3 | 160,912 |
| 3 | Confederacion Sudamericana de Bridge (CSB) | South America | 10 | 4,384 |
| 4 | Bridge Federation of Asia & the Middle East (BFAME) | Asia | 13 | 9,188 |
| 5 | Central American & Caribbean Bridge Federation (CAC) | Central America | 20 | 1,384 |
| 6 | Pacific Asia Bridge Federation (PABF) | Pacific Asia (Far East) | 12 | 71,129 |
| 7 | South Pacific Bridge Federation (SPBF) | Australia and Oceania | 4 | 47,286 |
| 8 | African Bridge Federation (ABF) | Africa | 14 | 6,398 |
Registered European players are members of a National Bridge Federation such as the English Bridge Union. The NBFs in turn are members of the zonal EBL, which has 49 member "nations" in 2010. In North America the zonal ACBL is an organization of player members. For world competition, however, the ACBL "members" are the NBFs of Canada, Mexico, and the US, which operate a few tournaments that qualify national representatives to some world events.
The ACBL charters more than 300 Units associated with exclusive territories. They are independent organizations that operate some tournaments and promote bridge locally. ACBL members are considered members of Units determined by residence. North America is also divided into 25 Districts that operate some Regional meets. Players may also be members of clubs that operate some bridge competition sanctioned by the ACBL.
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