Lebanese businessman Antoine Choueiri could be considered as Lebanese basketball’s founding father, a visionary who financed basketball’s entire ecosystem. The Sagesse-Riyadi rivalry also contributed to the development of the sport.
Antoine Choueiri, who passed away in 2010, could be perceived as modern Lebanese basketball’s main man. In context, Choueiri was catapulted into Lebanese sports following the death of Sagesse’s former president, Henri Asmar, who was stricken with a heart attack in 1993, when the Sagesse football team lost, 7 to 1, against Ansar in Tripoli. The many victories of Sagesse’s basketball team were credited to Choueiri, a few months after he was appointed president. The club then won the Lebanese Cup in 1993, all while competing in second division only. The “Greens” were then the main team of Lebanese basketball’s first golden generation. Such talents as Elie Mechantaf, Walid Doumiaty, Ghazi Boustani, and Joe Kaado, among others, played for Sagesse back then.
In 1993, Choueiri shared his vision with FLB president, Tony Khoury, and told him that he planned to recruit foreign players and introduce the playoffs and final 4. The former was a visionary who financed both the federation and a number of clubs by finding sponsors, all while heading Sagesse and investing in it.
In his interview with Ici Beyrouth, Elie Yahchouchi, current Sagesse president and former vice-president from 1995 to 2005, explains that, in 1993, Choueiri “had a big project for Lebanese sports, although times were very difficult for youngsters who immigrated in large numbers when Lebanon was under Syrian control. Choueiri knew that sports could cheer people up, so he proposed a roadmap to the Lebanese Football Federation, but it was rejected. A winner at heart, he turned to basketball. That’s when we made drastic changes within the Lebanese Basketball Federation and voted for a new one that Antoine Chartier would head, in 1996”.
Yahchouchi highlights that “Choueiri supported a large number of Lebanese clubs, so that there wouldn’t be a big skill gap between Sagesse and other teams. He helped everyone without making any distinction based on religion or place of origin. The money that Choueiri made from advertising and broadcasting through LBCI was nothing compared to the amounts he invested for the development of basketball”.
An ambitious man, Choueiri was able to achieve the unachievable in Lebanese basketball. When he started with Sagesse, he said that, one day, he would win the Arab and Asian states’ championships and his detractors mocked him. He remained to true to his word. He also stated that he would participate in the world clubs championships and did it in 1999 in Milan.
Riyadi, the second pillar
In an interview with Ici Beyrouth, president of Riyadi, Hicham Jaroudi, highlights the good relationship he had with Antoine Choueiri, one that is aimed at steering Lebanese basketball in the right direction: “Choueiri and I both agreed on the importance of signing foreign players for the Lebanese championship. First there was one, then two internationals on the pitch, even three at some stage. Then, only two were allowed to be part of the first five, the third one had to stay on the bench, to give an opportunity to Lebanese players. The top foreign players at Riyadi in the 90’s were Michael Cumberland, Tony Madison, Sergei Tchipoutkin, and Ismail Ahmad.”
Jaroudi added that Choueiri dreamed of having Lebanese clubs succeed internationally: “One day, Antoine Choueiri called me and said he wanted us to meet. He wanted my team to compete in the international tournament in Damascus. I said I wouldn’t be able to cover the extra costs. He answered that Lebanon would benefit greatly from it, and that if Riyadi win, he would win too. So he called the general manager of Lipton Tea and asked him if he could sponsor Riyadi at the Damascus tournament. We beat everybody in Syria. Antoine Choueiri gave his heart and soul to sports. He was a passionate man who loved his team”.
The Sagesse-Riyadi rivalry
Derbies in all championships are fan pleasers, which makes it easier to find sponsors and broadcasters. Elie Yahchouchi explains that, back then, “Riyadi was the strongest team, and its only competitor was Kahraba Zouk. The rise of Sagesse was beneficial to Lebanese basketball. Sagesse’s fanbase grew quickly, and Riyadi’s following was already significant. It was the birth of the derby. A derby like this one is crucial to the competitive aspect of any championship. This Lebanese derby, which also happened to be a Beirut derby, gave a healthy boost to the competition and contributed to the development of the sport. If Riyadi and Sagesse don’t have positive dynamics, it will take a toll on Lebanese basketball as a whole”.
In conclusion, one cannot assess the rise of Lebanese basketball without crediting part of it to LBCI, which broadcast the Lebanese Championship from 1993 to 2020. MTV took over afterwards. Worthy of note is the fact that it was Future TV that broadcast the 2009-2010 season.
Read more
