Editing Duplicate bridge (section)

=== Organization ===
The worldwide [[sports governing body]] in bridge is the [[World Bridge Federation]], formed 1958 as the joint effort of delegates from Europe, the United States, and South America.<ref>{{OEB|7|144}}</ref> In world bridge {{as of|2009|lc=y}}, Europe and North America, or the EBL and ACBL, are the two largest of eight world Zones or zonal organizations, with about 400,000 and 160,000 registered players.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbridge.org/zones/|title=Geographical zones|publisher=[[World Bridge Federation]]|access-date=2009-07-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721022459/http://www.worldbridge.org/zones/|archive-date=2009-07-21|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{|class=wikitable
!Zone ||Organization||Area||Member<br>Countries||Total<br>Membership
|-
|1||European Bridge League (EBL)||[[Europe]]||align="right"|47||align="right"|393,164
|-
|2||American Contract Bridge League (ACBL)||[[North America]]||align="right"|3||align="right"|160,912
|-
|3||Confederacion Sudamericana de Bridge (CSB)||[[South America]]||align="right"|10||align="right"|4,384
|-
|4||Bridge Federation of Asia & the Middle East (BFAME)||[[Asia]]||align="right"|13||align="right"|9,188
|-
|5||Central American & Caribbean Bridge Federation (CAC)||[[Central America]]||align="right"|20||align="right"|1,384
|-
|6||Pacific Asia Bridge Federation (PABF)||Pacific Asia ([[Far East]])||align="right"|12||align="right"|71,129
|-
|7||South Pacific Bridge Federation (SPBF)||[[Australia]] and [[Oceania]]||align="right"|4||align="right"|47,286
|-
|8||African Bridge Federation (ABF)||[[Africa]]||align="right"|14||align="right"|6,398
|}

Registered European players are members of a National Bridge Federation such as the [[English Bridge Union]] or the [[Deutscher Bridge Verband]]. The NBFs in turn are members of the zonal EBL, which has 49 member "nations" in 2010.<ref name=members>[http://www.eurobridge.org/scripts/members.asp EBL Member Countries] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927125752/http://www.eurobridge.org/scripts/members.asp |date=2011-09-27 }}. [http://www.eurobridge.org/index2.html European Bridge League] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505034244/http://www.eurobridge.org/index2.html |date=2012-05-05 }}.</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.worldbridge.org/zones/zonelist.asp?qzone=2 Zone 2: American Contract Bridge League (ACBL)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810164606/http://www.worldbridge.org/zones/zonelist.asp?qzone=2 |date=2011-08-10 }}. World Bridge Federation. Retrieved 2011-07-02.</ref>

The ACBL charters more than 300 Units associated with exclusive territories. They are independent organizations that operate some tournaments and promote bridge locally.<ref name=units>[http://www.acbl.org/units/units.html ACBL Units] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905031158/http://www.acbl.org/units/units.html |date=2011-09-05 }}. ACBL. Retrieved 2011-07-02.</ref><ref>[http://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/units/UnitAgreement.pdf Unit Agreement]. ACBL. Retrieved 2011-07-02.</ref> ACBL members are considered members of Units determined by residence. North America is also divided into 25 Districts that operate some Regional meets.<ref>[http://www.acbl.org/units/districts.html ACBL Districts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521220555/http://www.acbl.org/units/districts.html |date=2013-05-21 }}. ACBL. Retrieved 2011-07-02.</ref> Players may also be members of clubs that operate some bridge competition sanctioned by the ACBL.