Written By: Suhani Kothari, Edited By: Pablo Mercado
Made by Sanskrati Sharma
1974, the commencing year of a regional basketball championship, the ANBC. Also known as the Arab Nations Basketball Championship for men, this program is situated every 2 years in a respective Arab country, with its first-ever championship eventuated in Baghdad. This sports festival raises awareness about the importance of physical activity consistency and reminds citizens to rethink societies’ non-athletic values.
Their most recent planned championship was in Tunis, Tunisia. However, this was meant for the year 2020, at the time of the global medical crisis. Hence, the match was canceled and there have been no updates about when it is going to occur in the future.
One of the most magnificent countries presenting a remarkable example in the ANBC is Egypt, with 12 titles, 12 passionate players, and a multiple 3-in-a-row winning streaks. One of these passionate players is Anas Osama Mahmoud, an Egyptian professional basketball player. He played basketball at the University of Louisville and is a 2018/undrafted NBA player. Despite his career beginning in 2018, Mahmoud has received multiple achievements that mark his position in Arab basketball. He has many awards: the BAL Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, Egyptian League MVP in 2021, Egyptian League Champion in 2019 and 2021, ACC All-Defensive Team from 2018, and more. Mahmoud’s career began when he signed a two-year contract to play for Zamalek Basketball Club. Soon, the 7-foot, 215-pound center averaged 6.8 points, five rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game. He then finished his four-year career on the program's all-time blocks list.
Many readers might question the significance of this article because it doesn’t indicate the future of ANBC. However, it’s important to keep in mind that this sport event has had multiple influences on Arab society.
Sports in gulf countries were majorly considered useless, overrated, and meaningless. Adults pressured students into spending more time on academic progress rather than physical health education. However, they alone can’t be targeted to have this thinking as the society around carried this thought, and those who crossed it faced pesky taunts, expressions, and worse treatment from the others. As time went by, sports gained more recognition as it allowed countries to profit in many different ways. Authorities gradually started to recognize the impact of sports events on tourism, cultural expressions, financial systems, and communication. Citizens moderately started to accept this exposure of the audience and learned how to carry their religion and tradition as they go forward with these games. Egypt is one of the many countries where tourism is an important source of national income, “with the annual dollar revenues it provides, and the foreign currency returns that enabled it to participate significantly in the gross domestic product, and to combat unemployment by employing a wide segment of the workforce in Egypt.” (Elnagar & Derbali, 2020). In addition, sports tourism is inspiring countries to build new appealing infrastructure which accommodates the respective audience thoroughly.
Unfortunately, there is no future information available about the ANBC’s return, but fans are holding their breath for the arrival of the FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar, from 30th November to 18th December this year. Tickets for the FIFA Arab Cup are available through FIFA.com/tickets, and applications for the Fan ID can be made online via the dedicated portal. Online viewers in the Middle East can enjoy the game on beIN Sports.
References:
“Arab Nations Basketball Championship.” Sporasigi.com, 31 Mar. 2020, http://sporasigi.com/arab-nations-basketball-championship/.
“Egyptian Men National Team 2021.” Afrobasket, https://www.afrobasket.com/Egypt/basketball-National-Team.asp?Year=2021.
Eurobasket. “Anas Mahmoud Player Profile, Toronto Raptors, News, Stats - Usbasket.”
Eurobasket LLC, https://basketball.usbasket.com/player/Anas-Mahmoud/NBA-Summer-League/Toronto-Raptors/227043.
Eurobasket. “Arab Club Championships Play-Offs 2021.” Asia, https://www.asia-basket.com/Arab-Club-Championships/basketball.aspx.
The Importance of Tourism Contributions in ... - Refaad.com. https://www.refaad.com/Files/IJHTS/IJHTS-1-1-5.pdf.
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