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LIB – Lebanon goes to Turkey with one eye on London 2012
BEIRUT (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Nowhere in Asia is there a bigger appetite for basketball than Lebanon.
For that reason, there was unbridled enthusiasm and a huge sense of relief in the country after the news broke on December 12 that the national team had received a wild card to play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.
FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann made the recommendations that Lebanon, Lithuania, Russia and Germany receive the wild cards and the FIBA Central Board unanimously approved them.
A winning tradition, participation in the last two FIBA World Championships and a passionate fan base were all contributing factors in the wild-card decision.
“I think the last 25 or 30 years in which we achieved results, both clubs and national teams, it's made basketball popular for the Lebanese people,” Lebanese Basketball Federation president Pierre Kakhia said to FIBA.Com.
“If there is ever basketball in the news, it gets the maximum readers.
“We have even more supporters outside of Lebanon, all over the world, in the Gulf, in the United States, in Argentina and Brazil. We have a lot of fans and all Lebanese are proud we have a good national team.”
The wild-card announcement came four months after Lebanon’s painful 72-68 defeat to hosts China in the Semi-Finals of the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship.
Dragan Raca’s team still had a chance to qualify by winning the bronze-medal game but fell to Jordan, 80-66.
Kakhia said of the fans: “Everyone loves us, feels sorry for us, and no one blames anyone (about not qualifying directly).”
The federation president says he expects 2,000 to 4,000 fans to follow the national team next year in Turkey.
So what are Lebanon’s chances of winning some games next year?
The draw was held on December 15 – three days after the wild-card announcement – and Lebanon ended up in Group D against France, Spain, Lithuania, New Zealand and Canada.
“We played against France at the last World Championship and won,” Kakhia remembered fondly.
“It's one of the good results of the national team. We hope we can achieve some good results, particularly with Canada and New Zealand as we feel they are close to our level and we hope to play a good match against the champions Spain as well.”
Kakhia has revealed that he expects to have a new man in charge of the national team in early January.
“There will be a new coach from the United States,” he said.
“We are in the middle of the negotiations.”
While grateful for the opportunity to play in Turkey, Kakhia says he and Lebanon are thinking about another big tournament as well.
“Our target is not the World Cup (Championship),” he said. “It’s important, but our target is to qualify for the Olympics in London. So we will have a coaching program to take us to the World Championship and to have a team at the Olympics in London, 2012.
BEIRUT (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Nowhere in Asia is there a bigger appetite for basketball than Lebanon.
For that reason, there was unbridled enthusiasm and a huge sense of relief in the country after the news broke on December 12 that the national team had received a wild card to play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.
FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann made the recommendations that Lebanon, Lithuania, Russia and Germany receive the wild cards and the FIBA Central Board unanimously approved them.
A winning tradition, participation in the last two FIBA World Championships and a passionate fan base were all contributing factors in the wild-card decision.
“I think the last 25 or 30 years in which we achieved results, both clubs and national teams, it's made basketball popular for the Lebanese people,” Lebanese Basketball Federation president Pierre Kakhia said to FIBA.Com.
“If there is ever basketball in the news, it gets the maximum readers.
“We have even more supporters outside of Lebanon, all over the world, in the Gulf, in the United States, in Argentina and Brazil. We have a lot of fans and all Lebanese are proud we have a good national team.”
The wild-card announcement came four months after Lebanon’s painful 72-68 defeat to hosts China in the Semi-Finals of the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship.
Dragan Raca’s team still had a chance to qualify by winning the bronze-medal game but fell to Jordan, 80-66.
Kakhia said of the fans: “Everyone loves us, feels sorry for us, and no one blames anyone (about not qualifying directly).”
The federation president says he expects 2,000 to 4,000 fans to follow the national team next year in Turkey.
So what are Lebanon’s chances of winning some games next year?
The draw was held on December 15 – three days after the wild-card announcement – and Lebanon ended up in Group D against France, Spain, Lithuania, New Zealand and Canada.
“We played against France at the last World Championship and won,” Kakhia remembered fondly.
“It's one of the good results of the national team. We hope we can achieve some good results, particularly with Canada and New Zealand as we feel they are close to our level and we hope to play a good match against the champions Spain as well.”
Kakhia has revealed that he expects to have a new man in charge of the national team in early January.
“There will be a new coach from the United States,” he said.
“We are in the middle of the negotiations.”
While grateful for the opportunity to play in Turkey, Kakhia says he and Lebanon are thinking about another big tournament as well.
“Our target is not the World Cup (Championship),” he said. “It’s important, but our target is to qualify for the Olympics in London. So we will have a coaching program to take us to the World Championship and to have a team at the Olympics in London, 2012.
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