The Pakistan Bridge Federation is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

for the game of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The federation was founded as the Pakistan Bridge Association in 1972. It was renamed to the Pakistan Bridge Federation in 1993. Its headquarters are located in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. It has a membership of around 500 players.

History

Tournament bridge was introduced in Pakistan in the mid-1970s. At that time, Dr. Muhammad Ilyas shifted from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

to Karachi and started bridge clubs, the first of which was opened at the Bangalore Town Hall near Tipu Sultan Road. However in 1977, the club had to move after an adjacent mosque accused it of gambling. Eventually, it was able to establish its base underneath one of the stands at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

. After the introduction of the game, M. Aslam Sheikh is credited with popularizing it. Young officers of the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

played it regularly to improve their mental acuity. Eventually, the civilian population also started playing it, and the game spread. So far, Pakistani players have won 34 medals in international competitions.

Affiliations

The Pakistan Bridge Federation is affiliated with: *

World Bridge Federation The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the international governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competitions, most of which are conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle. The most prestigiou ...

* Bridge Federation of Asia & the Middle East *

Pakistan Sports Board Pakistan Sports Board ( ur, ) was established under the Ministry of Education in 1962 as a corporate body for the purposes of promoting and developing uniform standards of competition for sports in Pakistan comparable to the standards prevailing ...

References

Sports governing bodies in Pakistan Contract bridge governing bodies 1972 establishments in Pakistan Sports organizations established in 1972 {{Pakistan-sport-stub