Practitioners of the card game bridge are appearing in London's High Court this week to argue that their pastime deserves to be considered a sport.

The English Bridge Union (EBU) took legal action after British funding body Sport England refused to recognise it as such, preventing the EBU from taking part in international competitions.

"Sport England refused to recognise bridge as a sport, a position which the EBU believes to be inconsistent with both the wishes of Parliament, and the opinion of significant international sporting organisations," said an EBU spokesman.

He said that bridge required "undoubted levels of mental skill" and had "known health benefits".

Lawyers acting for the EBU will point out that chess is recognised as a sport by the International Olympic Committee and that both chess and bridge have been invited to apply for inclusion at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Jeremy Dhondy, a leading bridge player and EBU chairman, said: "We hope that this hearing will allow bridge to be recognised in the way that it should."

Bridge, also known as contact bridge, is a "trick-taking" game involving four players in two competing partnerships and is one of the world's most popular card games.
Source: AFP