Who Makes the Rules? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Royal & Ancient

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, aka the Home of Golf, is based at St. Andrews in Scotland and has a history going back to 1754. The modern R&A has now been separated from the club through the creation of an independent corporate structure in 2004. It is still based at St. Andrews.

As well as its governance role, the R&A is also responsible for organising the annual Open Championship in the UK.

Answer: Jules Rimet

Rimet was president of FIFA, soccer's international governing body between 1921 and 1954. He is credited with conceiving the first World Cup competition which was held in 1930. The Jules Rimet trophy was presented to Brazil in perpetuity after their third triumph in 1970. Sadly, it was stolen in 1983 and never seen again.

Drewry (1955-61), Rous (1961-74), and Havelange (1974-98) also served as presidents.

Answer: Real Tennis

Real Tennis and Rackets are actually two different sports. Real Tennis, sometimes called the "sport of kings" is played on an indoor court and has a pedigree going back to the middle ages. The "real" was only added in the 20th century to distinguish it from the emerging sport of lawn tennis. Rackets, by contrast, developed during the 17th century in London's prisons. Lawn tennis, the modern version of tennis, was created by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield in 1873.

He took his inspiration from real tennis, rackets, and badminton.

Answer: ISP (The International Society of Pugilists)

The World Boxing Association (WBA) has a history going back to 1921 when it was founded as the National Boxing Association. It adopted its present name in 1962. The World Boxing Council (WBC) was established in 1963 as an attempt to create a truly global organization.

The International Boxing Federation was created by Bob Lee in 1983 after he had failed in running for presidency of the WBA. Finally, the International Boxing Union (IBU) was formed in Atlanta in 1996, but is generally viewed as having lower stature than the other three bodies.

Answer: Baseball

Lasker was owner of the Chicago Cubs before selling to William Wrigley Jr. in 1925. The plan came in the wake of the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal in which members of the Chicago White Sox team were accused of throwing their World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. It took ultimate power away from the team owners by creating an independent commissioner.

Answer: The first Lords ground was at Marylebone in central London

The MCC takes its name from the original incarnation of the Lords ground which was built at Marylebone, in central London, adjacent to Regents' Park. Lords was, undoubtedly, for the use of "gentlemen", but its name derives from that of Thomas Lord who was responsible for its construction in 1787.

Answer: Rowing

As many of sport's governing bodies have French language acronyms, it helps to know the name of a sport in that language. Soccer is governed by FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), swimming by FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation), and skiing by FIS (Federation Internationale de Ski).

The French term for rowing is aviron, and this gives us Federation Internationale des Societes d'Aviron or FISA for short.

Answer: The A is for "Amateur", but it now also embraces professional basketball

This is a French language acronym as FIBA's full name is Federation Internationale de Basketball Amateur (International Federation of Amateur Basketball). It had eight founding members in Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland. Professionalism was accepted in 1989. The word "Amateur" was dropped from the name, but the original initials were retained on the grounds that Basketball starts with both a B and an A.

Answer: The team owners

NFL rules require that each franchise team should have a lead owner, although this owner can own as little as 10% of the team. The International Federation of American Football was founded in 1998 and governs the sport globally, but has minimal influence within America itself.

Answer: Equestrian

The Federation Equestre Internationale (the International Federation for Equestrian Sports) governs disciplines such as show jumping and three day eventing, as well as the less well-known sports of horseball and tent pegging. It does not cover polo or horse racing.

The FEI tends to look towards nobility for its presidents. Other presidents have included the Spanish Duchess of Badajoz, the Belgian Baron Gaston de Trannoy, and the German Baron Max Von Holzing-Bertstett. The two British royals served consecutively between 1964 and 1994.