LONDON: Bridge enthusiasts began a court challenge in London on Tuesday against a decision by funding body Sport England to exclude the card game from a list of recognized sports that includes darts, model aircraft flying, hot air ballooning and angling.
At stake for bridge lovers is a potential source of funding as well as new opportunities to play, while for Sport England the risk if bridge succeeds is that the likes of chess, Scrabble and other “mind sports” will also want recognition and money.
The English Bridge Union (EBU), which has 55,000 members, argues that Sport England, a public body that aims to help get the nation fitter, used too narrow a definition of sport when it rejected an application in 2014 to recognize bridge as one.
That definition, taken from a Council of Europe charter on sport, identifies “physical activity” as its central element.
“Physical activity is a very uncertain yardstick,” lawyer Richard Clayton, representing the EBU, told the High Court, drawing a comparison between bridge and darts.
Leaving aside the lifting of pints of beer, he suggested, the amount of physical activity involved in playing darts was arguably not much greater than that involved in shuffling and dealing cards to play bridge.
Clayton conceded that darts did involve a level of physical skill not required in bridge, but that was not what the definition required.
The High Court is not being asked to rule on whether or not bridge is a sport, but merely on whether Sport England’s decision to reject the application to recognize bridge was lawful. If it sides with the EBU, that could compel Sport England to revisit the issue.
Lawyer Kate Gallafent, acting for Sport England, told the court the case was “not about bridge at all,” and that the characteristics of bridge, chess, poker or any other pursuit were irrelevant to the “rather dry point of law” at issue.
Judge Ian Dove, who informed the court at the start of the two-day hearing that his wife was a member of a bridge club, rejected an application by Clayton to refer to a witness statement from a representative of the English Chess Federation.
The judge said bringing chess into the debate would “generate more heat than light” in terms of the legal issue he had to resolve, which was whether Sport England had unlawfully restricted its own powers by adopting too narrow a definition.
The EBU says 300,000 people in Britain regularly play the game, which it says brings health benefits by exercising the mind and is one of few sports available to older people.
UK court asked: If darts is a sport, why not bridge?
UK court asked: If darts is a sport, why not bridge?
Mbappe double at Villarreal takes Real Madrid top of La Liga
VILA-REAL, Spain Kylian Mbappe netted twice to earn Real Madrid a 2-0 win at Villarreal on Saturday and take his side to the top of La Liga.
Alvaro Arbeloa’s team moved two points clear of arch-rivals Barcelona, who host bottom-of-the-table Real Oviedo on Sunday.
La Liga’s top scorer Mbappe reached 21 goals for the season in the competition to help Madrid see off a spirited Villarreal side, who are now fourth.
Arbeloa’s side have won three consecutive matches across all competitions and victory at Villarreal could be a vital step in the revival of their season.
After the shock Copa del Rey defeat at second-tier Albacete in Arbeloa’s first match at the helm just 10 days ago after replacing Xabi Alonso, his Madrid have started to take shape.
The coach has made clear how important his star players are and none has been more crucial this season than French superstar Mbappe, who has netted 34 times across all competitions.
Mbappe and Vinicius Junior “are the best players in the world, they are players who can really unbalance teams, we try to get the ball to them as much as possible,” Arbeloa told Real Madrid TV.
“They’re two players who... I’m really happy to have in this state of form and above all, because of the great work they are doing.
“They are really committed to the team, they are the first who are pressing... they’re giving this effort and solidarity that we need from them, so I’m very happy that their reward comes in the form of goals.”
It was a lively but imprecise start at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica, as the game glowed but neither side was able to seriously threaten.
Georges Mikautadze lashed a volley narrowly wide after veteran forward Gerard Moreno found him with a floating cross.
At the other end, Madrid midfielder Arda Guler fired straight at Villarreal stopper Luiz Junior after some tidy footwork, and then shot high over the bar at the end of a swift break.
Villarreal’s Juan Foyth limped off hurt in a blow for the hosts, who created a good chance for Pape Gueye just before the break.
The Senegal midfielder, a champion at the Africa Cup of Nations last weekend, powered narrowly wide of the post.
Vinicius, who excelled in Madrid’s 6-1 Champions League rout of Monaco in midweek, also came close with a rasping effort that sailed across Luiz Junior’s goal and wide.
The 25-year-old Brazil forward went a 13th straight La Liga match without scoring, but was involved as Mbappe found the net two minutes into the second half.
- ‘Nightmare for defenses’ -
Vinicius came into the box from the left flank and his low cross was blocked but Mbappe was on hand to squeeze home his 20th league goal of the campaign from close range.
“They are a nightmare for defenses,” said Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. “I hope they can keep bringing joy.”
Villarreal had the better of the second half as they worked hard to pull level, but Moreno spurned their best chance by firing inches over when well-placed.
In stoppage time, Mbappe was felled clumsily by Alfonso Pedraza in the box and the French forward cheekily dinked home the resulting penalty to seal Madrid’s victory.
Mbappe’s team-mate Brahim Diaz, who missed a similar attempted Panenka penalty for Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations final, was on the pitch to see it as he returned to action for his club.
“For you,” Mbappe appeared to say to Diaz during the celebration, indicating it was a gesture of support.
“For me, the most important thing is that are united, we saw it last Wednesday with Vinicius’s goal and we saw it again today, with Brahim,” Arbeloa told reporters.
The Yellow Submarine are now 10 points behind leaders Madrid, having played one fewer match than Arbeloa’s side.
“We have to be a bit more accurate in attack against these kinds of teams,” admitted Villarreal midfielder Alberto Moleiro.
Elsewhere, fifth-placed Espanyol fell to a 3-2 defeat at Valencia that left them seven points behind Villarreal.
