- 08
- Feb.
- 2024
Basketball/Asian Qualifiers: Lebanese Squad Unveiled
modified on 11 Apr. 2024 à 15:46 Read : 2 minute(s) A A A
©YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP
The President of the Lebanese Basketball Federation, Akram Halabi, has revealed the list of players called up by coach Jad El Hajj for the Lebanese men's national team. The squad will compete in the Beirut Cup and the first two games of the Asian window against Syria and Bahrain.
Notably absent from the squad is pivot Ali Haidar, and Norvel Pelle will be the naturalized player, joining the likes of Sergio El Darwich, Ali Mezher, Gerard Hadidian, Wael Arakji, Ali Mansour, Amir Saoud, Karim Zeinoun, Hayk Gyokchyan, Mark Khoueiry, Norvel Pelle, Karim Ezzedine, Jad Khalil, and Omar Jamal Eddine.
Beirut Cup
The organizing committee has announced the participation of Syria, Kuwait, Iraq, Palestine, Oman, and the Lebanese host team in the men's basketball "Beirut Cup," scheduled for February 17-20. Supervised by the Lebanese Basketball Federation and organized by the company "Global Active Sports," this competition is of crucial importance ahead of the Asian qualifiers the following month.
Participating teams will be divided into two groups: the first comprising Lebanon, Iraq, and Kuwait, and the second including Syria, Palestine, and Oman. The tournament kicks off on Saturday, February 17, with the final scheduled for Tuesday, February 20, pitting the champions of the two groups against each other.
FIBA Asian Cup 2025 qualifiers
As far as qualifying for the 2025 Asian Cup is concerned, Lebanon has been placed in Group F, with matches scheduled against Syria, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. In the first window, Lebanon will face Syria on Friday, February 23 in Damascus at 18:00 Beirut time at the Al Fayhaa stadium, and Bahrain on Monday, February 26 at 21:00 local time at the Nouhad Nawfal stadium in Zouk Mikael.
For the qualifiers, the 24 teams are divided into 6 groups of 4, playing 2 matches per window over 3 windows. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the FIBA Asian Cup 2025, making a total of 12 teams. In addition, the six teams ranked 3rd in each group will take part in a final qualifying tournament, with the top 4 teams securing the remaining places for the FIBA Asian Cup 2025.
The Saudi Basketball Federation (SBF) has won the right to organize the FIBA Asian Cup 2025, with all games scheduled to take place in Jeddah. This is the second time that Saudi Arabia will host this prestigious event, after 1997 in Riyadh, marking the return of the Asian Cup to the Gulf.
Lebanon's basketball history is marked by notable successes, with four FIBA Asian Cup finals, notably in 2001, 2005, 2007, and most recently in 2022. The team has also participated in the FIBA World Cup on four occasions (2002, 2006, 2010, and 2023), although it failed to progress beyond the preliminary round in any of these four appearances.
The Lebanese basketball team is currently ranked 28th in the world, having moved up 16 places thanks to its good results since the last edition of the Asian Cup and the last world tournament in Jakarta.
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