Lebanon men's national basketball team

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.[2]

The refusal of the Soviet Union to host Eurobasket 1949 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 made their debut in the European championship tournaments. They lost all six of their games in the seven-team round-robin tournament, finishing in seventh and last place.[3]

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 fourth 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.[4]

Lebanon finished in second place at the 2001 ABC Championship after a loss 63–97 to China in the final. Lebanon guard player Walid Doumiati was named the tournament best playmaker and was selected to the All-Star Five along with his team forward player Fadi El Khatib.[5] That Silver medal awarded Lebanon participation at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, where they lost in the first round.[6]

At the 2005 FIBA Asia Championship, Lebanon team reached the final for the second time but fell short of winning the gold due to a loss 61–77 against China. Lebanon player Fadi El Khatib was awarded the tournament best forward and was selected to the All-Star Five along with his team center player Joe Vogel.[7] With the runners-up finish, the cedars qualified to the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Despite winning 82–72 against Venezuela and 74–73 against France, Lebanon fell short of qualifying to the round of 16 of that World Championship.[6]

Lebanon finished runners-up for the third time at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship, losing to Iran 74–69 in the final. That loss prevented Lebanon from qualifying to the 2008 Summer Olympics.[6]

At the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship, Lebanon reached the semi-finals but losses to China and Jordan prevented the team from qualifying outright to the World Championship in 2010. Fortunately, Lebanon were granted that year a wildcard spot to its third straight World Cup appearance. A single win 81–71 against Canada wasn't enough for Lebanon to advance past the group stage at 2010 FIBA World Championship.[6]

From July 2013, Lebanon served a FIBA-approved[8] 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.[9]

The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship 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.[10] This is also the last Asian Championships that will serve as the qualifying round for the FIBA Basketball World Cup, as a two-year cycle competition systems will be used starting with 2019 World Cup qualification.[11]

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,[12] they were replaced by fourth-placer Iraq.[13] But Iraq declined due to lack of preparation, and FIBA Asia instead tapped the United Arab Emirates to replace them.[14] 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. All Group B teams thus automatically qualify for the second round, regardless of the outcome of their first round matches. [8]

After over a decade, Lebanon were once again able to reach the finals and finish in second place at the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup after a 73–75 loss against Australia.[15] It marked the fourth time Lebanon won Silver at the FIBA Asia Cup, as they also won it in 2001, 2005, and 2007.[6] Additionally, Lebanon point guard Wael Arakji was named the tournament MVP and best guard, and was selected to the All-Star Five.[16]

Later that same year, Lebanon qualified for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[17] The cedars lost their three games in the first round, but closed their World Cup campaign with back-to-back wins, 94–84 over Ivory Coast and 81–73 over Iran, in the classification round.[18]

Due to finishing 23rd overall ranking in 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup,[19] Lebanon earned participation in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in the summer of 2024 where twenty-four teams will be competing for the last four tickets to the Olympics.[20]

Roster for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[22][23]

Lebanon men's national basketball team – 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. F 00 Mark Alkhoury 25 – (1998-02-22)22 February 1998 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Dynamo Lebanon PF 4 Omari Spellman 26 – (1997-07-21)21 July 1997 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Anyang KGC SG 5 Amir Saoud 32 – (1991-01-18)18 January 1991 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Al Riyadi PG 6 Jad Khalil 26 – (1996-11-20)20 November 1996 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Dynamo Lebanon SG 7 Karim Zeinoun 24 – (1999-06-16)16 June 1999 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Al Riyadi SG 9 Sergio El Darwich 27 – (1996-07-25)25 July 1996 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Beirut Club PG 10 Ali Mansour 25 – (1998-01-01)1 January 1998 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Al Riyadi PF 11 Ali Haidar (C) 33 – (1990-07-20)20 July 1990 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Al-Karamah PF 14 Karim Ezzedine 26 – (1997-08-08)8 August 1997 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Dynamo Lebanon PG 20 Wael Arakji 28 – (1994-09-04)4 September 1994 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Al Riyadi PF 24 Hayk Gyokchyan 33 – (1989-12-11)11 December 1989 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Al Riyadi PG 25 Ali Mezher 29 – (1994-03-22)22 March 1994 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Beirut Club	Head coach Jad El Hajj Assistant coach(es) Viktor Janketić Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 25 August 2023