World Confederation of Billiard Sports

The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) is the international umbrella organization encompassing the major cue sports (billiards-type games), including carom billiards, pool games of several varieties, and snooker. The confederation is relatively new, having been founded in 1992. Its current headquarters are in Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium. Jean-Claude Dupont is the current President since 2010. There are 148 affiliated national federations. It, in turn, is affiliated with many international sports organizations such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), International World Games Association (IWGA) and Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). Its statutes, practices and activities all conform to the Olympic Charter.

The primary aim of WCBS is to establish billiard-type sports as medal events in as many multiple-sports competitions as possible, on both regional and world levels. The ultimate goal of WCBS is to have billiard sports included in the Olympic Games.

The WCBS serves as platform for its associated groups: The Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB); the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA); the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and its amateur counterpart, the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF). These groups work closely together, but the independence of each organization is maintained and respected. As a result, unlike other international sports organizations, the WCBS does not set the rules of the sports nor organize any international competition itself. Instead, these functions are carried out by the associated organizations.