Lebanon men's national basketball team

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This article is about the men's national team. For the women's national team, see Lebanon women's national basketball team.

Lebanon Lebanon
FLB logo.png
FIBA ranking56 Increase 3 (9 August 2021)[1]
Joined FIBA1947
FIBA zoneFIBA Asia
National federationFédération Libanaise de Basketball (FLB)
Coach
Nickname(s)The Cedars
FIBA World Cup
Appearances3
MedalsNone
Asian Championship
Appearances9
MedalsSilver medal asia.svg Silver: (2001, 2005, 2007)
European Championship
Appearances2
hide
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
FIBA Asia Championship 0 3 0
FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup 1 0 0
West Asian Basketball Championship 5 4 0
Arab Nations Basketball Championship 0 1 1
Pan Arab Games 1 0 0
Total 7 8 1

The Lebanese national basketball team (French: Équipe du Liban de basket-ball) is the basketball team of men representing Lebanon in international competitions. Lebanon has been considered one of the top teams in the FIBA Asia sector after coming runners up on three occasions during the 2001 FIBA Asia Championship, the 2005 FIBA Asia Championship and the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship.

In 2013, Lebanon was banned by FIBA in all sanctioned events after political interventions in Lebanese basketball. Therefore, Lebanon didn't participate in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship missing the chance to qualify to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup for the fourth time in a row. The ban was then removed in early 2014 after the election of a new basketball federation.

History[]

The first time basketball was played in Lebanon was in the mid-1920s in the American University of Beirut. The Lebanese Basketball Federation (French: Fédération Libanaise de Basketball) was jointly founded later in 1949 along with the Lebanese Volleyball Federation.[citation needed]

The Lebanese made their debut in the European championship tournaments with Eurobasket 1949, held in Cairo, Egypt. They lost all six of their games in the seven-team round-robin tournament, finishing in 7th and last place.[citation needed] The refusal of the Soviet Union to host the competition and FIBA Europe's unwillingness to ask Czechoslovakia to host consecutive tournaments meant that 1947 bronze medallist Egypt hosted the competition. Due to travel difficulties and fears, few European teams would travel to the African country to compete. Lebanon, as well as Syria, were asked to compete in the European championship despite being Asian countries. Lebanon played in the European competition again at Eurobasket 1953 in Moscow. They lost all four of their preliminary round, including one by forfeit as the team refused to play against Israel. The team was able to defeat Sweden in the first classification round, giving them their first Eurobasket win. They placed 4th in their five-team group, advancing to the 13–16 classification games. They lost the first 58–56 to West Germany, but won against Denmark 74–40 to take 15th place of the 17 teams.[citation needed]

Stanković Cup[]

See Article: 2010 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup Lebanon hosted the all-new Stanković Cup in 2010 from 7 to 15 August. Ghazir Club Court welcomed 10 national teams from Asia. The tournament was concluded with the victory of the Lebanese basketball team over the Japanese side with 38 points difference and a 7–0 run.[citation needed]

FIBA Asia and World championships[]

In the FIBA Asia Championship, Lebanon finished 2nd three times (2001, 2005 and 2007), losing twice in the final to China and once to Iran, respectively. They participated in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, the second time they qualified for the tournament (First was in 2002). During that tournament, they managed to beat France and Venezuela but lost to Serbia and Montenegro, Nigeria and Argentina in the first round, finishing in 5th place out of the six to be eliminated.[citation needed]

The 2006 tournament was considered a success mainly because of the political problems Lebanon was having at the time. Lebanon's 74–73 victory over France was considered one of the upsets of the tournament.[2] Fadi El Khatib was the seventh best scorer in the tournament, averaging 18 points per game. His performances in the World Championship affected his team's status because in Lebanon's victories, El Khatib averaged 32 points per game, while averaging only 10 points per game in Lebanon's losses.[citation needed]

Lebanon participated in the 2010 FIBA World Championship and managed to beat Canada 81–71[3] before losing the remaining of their group games.[citation needed]

In the William Jones Cup, Lebanon finished second overall two times, in 2007 and 2010, and third once, in 2009.[citation needed]

2013 FIBA suspension[]

From July 2013, Lebanon served a FIBA-approved[4] indefinite suspension. This came after the parties within the country's national basketball federation failed to resolve their differences, forcing FIBA Asia to suspend the country from all of its sanctioned events until further notice in spite of the fact that FIBA Asia secretary general Hagop Khatcherian is Lebanese. However, on 8 May 2014 after recent appeals by the Lebanese Federation, FIBA eventually uplifted the ban allowing the national team to once again compete on the international stage.[5]

Ramifications on the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship Campaign[]

Main article: 2013 FIBA Asia Championship

FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the intercontinental championship for basketball organized by FIBA Asia that served as the qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. The tournament was held from 1–11 August in Metro Manila, Philippines. Beirut, Lebanon was supposed to host the tournament but the hosting rights was given to the Philippines citing the Syrian Civil War and security concerns in the Middle East in general.[6] This is also the last Asian Championships that will serve as the qualifying round for the FIBA Basketball World Cup, as a qualifying window will be used starting 2019.[citation needed]

Lebanon originally qualified for the tournament after placing second in the 2013 West Asian Basketball Championship.

However, after the country's basketball federation was suspended indefinitely by FIBA due to unresolved conflicts within the country's national basketball federation,[7] they were replaced by fourth-placer Iraq.[8] But Iraq declined due to lack of preparation, and FIBA Asia instead tapped the United Arab Emirates to replace them.[9] However, the United Arab Emirates also declined the invitation for the same reason, and after FIBA's confirmation of the Lebanese federation's suspension, FIBA Asia decided not to take in any more replacements, reducing the total number of teams to 15. This left Group B with only three teams, and some games were moved from the Ninoy Aquino Stadium to compensate for the lost games involving Lebanon.[10] All Group B teams thus automatically qualify for the second round, regardless of the outcome of their first round matches.[citation needed]

2015 FIBA Asia Championship Campaign[]

Main article: 2015 FIBA Asia Championship

After winning the West Asian Basketball Championship held in Amman, Jordan from 29 May to 3 June 2015, Lebanon qualified to the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship after FIBA lifted the ban in 2014, allowing the national team to compete again on the international stages. The tournament was held in China from 23 September to 3 October 2015. In the First Round, the draw put Lebanon in Group D alongside Qatar, Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei. Lebanon won his first game against Chinese Taipei 92–87, then barely lost the second against Qatar 100–105 after two overtimes, but managed to win comfortably against Kazakhstan 91–55, finishing in second place in the group and advancing to the Second Round of the competition.[11]

On the Second Round, Lebanon played in the Group F, first against South Korea and lost 71–85. After that, Lebanon lost to China 72–90, but managed to win against Jordan 80–76. That win enabled Lebanon to take the 4th position in the Group and advance to the Quarterfinals,[12] but then Lebanon lost the game against Philippines 70–82 on 1 October 2015.[13] After that, Lebanon played the Classification matches and won the 5th–8th place semifinals against Qatar 89–86 on 2 October, and qualified to the Fifth place game,[14] then won the match against South Korea by a single point 88–87 on 3 October 2015. And with that win, Lebanon managed to finish in the Fifth place in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship[15] after his absence from the 2013 edition.

Results[]

World Cup[]

Year Rank Pld W L
Argentina 1950 Did not enter – – –
Brazil 1954 – – –
Chile 1959 – – –
Brazil 1963 – – –
Uruguay 1967 – – –
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1970 – – –
Puerto Rico 1974 Did not qualify – – –
Philippines 1978 Did not enter – – –
Colombia 1982 Did not qualify – – –
Spain 1986 – – –
Argentina 1990 – – –
Canada 1994 – – –
Greece 1998 – – –
United States 2002 16th place 5 0 5
Japan 2006 17th place 5 2 3
Turkey 2010 20th place 5 1 4
Spain 2014 Suspended – – –
China 2019 Did not qualify – – –
Total 3/17 15 3 12

Asian Championship[]

Year Rank Pld W L
Europe
Egypt 1949 7th place 7 1 6
Soviet Union 1953 15th place 7 2 5
Asia
Philippines 1960 Did not enter – – –
China 1963 – – –
Malaysia 1965 – – –
South Korea 1967 – – –
Thailand 1969 – – –
Japan 1971 – – –
Philippines 1973 – – –
Thailand 1975 – – –
Malaysia 1977 – – –
Japan 1979 – – –
India 1981 – – –
Hong Kong 1983 – – –
Malaysia 1985 – – –
Thailand 1987 – – –
China 1989 – – –
Japan 1991 – – –
Indonesia 1993 – – –
South Korea 1995 – – –
Saudi Arabia 1997 – – –
Japan 1999 7th place – – –
China 2001 Runners-up 7 4 3
China 2003 4th place 7 4 3
Qatar 2005 Runners-up 10 8 2
Japan 2007 Runners-up 10 8 2
China 2009 4th place 11 7 4
China 2011 6th place 12 7 5
Philippines 2013 Suspended – – –
China 2015 5th place 9 5 4
Lebanon 2017 6th place 7 4 3
Indonesia 2021 Qualified
Total 10/30 70 47 26

Team[]

Current roster[]

2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualification[]

Opposition: Iraq (21 February)
Venue: , Zouk Mikael
Opposition: Bahrain (24 February)
Venue: , Zouk Mikael[16]

Lebanon national basketball team – 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualification roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
SF 0 23 – (1996-07-22)22 July 1996 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Sagesse SC Lebanon
C 3 Ater Majok 32 – (1987-07-04)4 July 1987 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) US Monastir Tunisia
SG 6 25 – (1994-10-21)21 October 1994 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Lebanon
F 7 20 – (1999-06-16)16 June 1999 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Hoops Club Lebanon
SF 8 Elie Rustom 32 – (1987-05-02)2 May 1987 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Lebanon
G 10 22 – (1998-01-01)1 January 1998 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Hoops Club Lebanon
C 11 Ali Haidar 29 – (1990-07-20)20 July 1990 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Lebanon
PG 12 Joseph Chartouny 25 – (1994-12-03)3 December 1994 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Sagesse SC Lebanon
F 14 22 – (1997-08-08)8 August 1997 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Paris Basketball France
PG 20 Wael Arakji 25 – (1994-09-04)4 September 1994 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut Lebanon
PG 25 25 – (1994-03-22)22 March 1994 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Lebanon
Head coach
  • Lebanon
Assistant coach(es)
  • Lebanon
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 21 February 2020

Past roster[]

Roster for the .[17][18]

Lebanon men's national basketball team – 2018 FIBA Asian Qualifier 2017-2019 roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
SF 5 Patrick Bou Abboud 30 – (1987-07-24)24 July 1987 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Lebanon
SG 8 22 – (1994-10-21)21 October 1994 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Lebanon
SG 0 21 – (1996-07-22)22 July 1996 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Sagesse SC Lebanon
PG 25 Ali Mezher 23 – (1994-03-22)22 March 1994 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Champville Lebanon
SG 12 Joseph Chartouny 22 – (1994-12-03)3 December 1994 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Lebanon
PF 24 22 – (1995-04-21)21 April 1995 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Lebanon
PG 10 19 – (1998-01-01)1 January 1998 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Hoops Club Lebanon
SG 7 18 – (1999-06-16)16 June 1999 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Hoops Club Lebanon
PF 11 Ali Haidar 27 – (1990-07-20)20 July 1990 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Champville Lebanon
SF 8 Elie Rustom (C) 30 – (1987-05-02)2 May 1987 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Lebanon
C 0 Ater Majok (AM (NP)) 31 – (1987-07-04)4 July 1987 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) New Zealand Breakers New Zealand
PF 14 21 – (1997-08-08)8 August 1997 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Champville Lebanon
PG 20 23 – (1994-09-04)4 September 1994 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Al Shamal Qatar
Head coach
  • Lebanon
Assistant coach(es)
  • Lebanon Jad El Hajj
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (NP) Naturalized player
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 24 February 2020

Lebanese NBA Players[]

Notable players[]

Previous rosters[]

  • 1949 EuroBasket: Finished 7th among 7 teams
  • 1953 EuroBasket: Finished 15th among 17 teams
  • Ahmed Idlibi
  • Christos Hadjigeorgiou
  • Maurice Nasr
  • Elie Homsi
  • Shawki Rababeh
  • Naim Barakat
  • Saadeddine Itani
  • Vartkes Alahaidoian
  • Jean Diarbekirian
  • Khalil Mekkawi
  • Georges Estephan
  • Edouard Karam
  • Coach: Ahon Kadian
  • 2002 World Championship: Finished 16th among 16 teams
  • 2006 World Championship: Finished 18th among 24 teams
  • 2010 World Championship: Finished 20th among 24 teams

References[]

  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Lebanon's historic win over France 74–73". ESPN.com. 23 August 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
  3. ^ "Lebanon stops Canada in FIBA opener". The Globe and Mail Inc. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  4. ^ "27th FIBA Asia C'ship: Fray reduced to 15 after Lebanon suspension". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  5. ^ Castillo, Musong R. (14 July 2013). "Lebanon ouster to benefit Gilas". Inquirer.net. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  6. ^ "PHI - 2013 FIBA Asia Championship moved to Philippines". FIBA.com.
  7. ^ "FIBA suspends Lebanese basketball federation - The Daily Star Lebanon".
  8. ^ "Report: Lebanon suspended by FIBA, out of FIBA Asia Championship - InterAksyon".[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Beltran, Nelson. "UAE replaces suspended Lebanon in FIBA Asia tiff". Philippine Star.
  10. ^ "27th FIBA Asia C'ship: Fray reduced to 15 after Lebanon suspension". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  11. ^ "Lebanon takes 2nd position in Group D and advances to the Second Round". FIBA.basketball. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Lebanon takes 4th position in Group F and advances to the Quarterfinals". FIBA.basketball. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  13. ^ "Lebanon loses the Quarterfinals to Philippines and goes to the Classification Round". FIBA.basketball. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Lebanon wins the 5-8 Classification match against Qatar by three points and advances to the 5-6 Classification match". FIBA.basketball. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Lebanon wins the Fifth Place Match against South Korea by one point". FIBA.basketball. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Lebanon at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers". FIBA.basketball.
  17. ^ 2018 FIBA world cup qualification roster
  18. ^ "Lebanese Men National Team 2018". fiba.basketball. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.

External links[]

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