The Afghanistan men's national basketball team () is the men's national basketball team of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and is controlled by the Afghanistan National Basketball Federation. Afghanistan joined

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

and became a member of

FIBA Asia FIBA Asia is a zone within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) which contains all 44 Asian FIBA federations. Member associations Tournaments Organized by FIBA Asia National teams * FIBA Asia Cup – since 2017, also inclu ...

in 1968. Afghanistan won the

2010 South Asian Games The 2010 South Asian Games, officially the XI South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event that took place from 29 January to 8 February 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the South Asian ...

, becoming the first sports team to win gold in the nation's history.

History

Early history

Basketball was first played in Afghanistan in 1936. In 1966, the

Afghanistan National Olympic Committee National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, former Afghanistan National Olympic Committee ( fa, کمیته ملی المپیک افغانستان, IOC code: AFG) is the National Olympic Committee representing Islamic Repub ...

(ANOC) founded the first national basketball team after receiving challenges from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. Tom Gouttierre, an American

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

volunteer and coach of the team at

Habibia High School Habibia High School ( fa, لیسه عالی حبیبیه) is a school in southwestern Kabul, Afghanistan which has educated many of the former and current Afghan elite, including President Ashraf Ghani and musician Ahmad Zahir. It was founded by K ...

, became the first coach. Using detailed, confidential instructions from John Wooden, the Afghanistan team became the only other to run the famous

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

zone press. Although the international games were canceled, in 1969 Gouttierre returned on a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

and again became the Habibia coach, and in 1970 Bill Bradley of the New York Knicks tutored the team while visiting the country. That year China challenged the ANOC. Because of the lack of preparation time, Gouttierre decided that current and former Habibia players were the best choice for a second Afghanistan national team. Using the zone press, it defeated a much larger Chinese team in

Parwan Province Parwan (Dari: ), also spelled Parvan, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divided into ten districts. The town of Imam Abu Hani ...

in the Afghanistan team's first international victory.

FIBA Asia Cup

Afghanistan has failed to qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup, while as well as only entering in the qualification rounds only once in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

when they entered in the South Asian Basketball Association Qualifying Round. Afghanistan would defeat

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

before losing to

and failing to qualify for the Asia Cup. This is their only appearance in FIBA Asia Cup qualification rounds to date.

Asian Games

Afghanistan has made two brief appearance in the Asian Games in 2006 and 2010. Both times the men's national team would struggle for success and failing to qualify outside the first round in both years respectively. The 2010 edition would be marked as the last time Afghanistan has played any competitive men's national teams games.

South Asian Games

Afghanistan would see their best success in international competition in the form of the 2010 edition of the

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic ...

. They would defeat India and claim gold in what has been their only appearance in the South Asian Games to date.

Competitive record

Summer Olympics

FIBA World Cup

FIBA Asia Cup

Asian Games

*1970-2002 : ''Did not qualify'' *2006 : 13th *2010 : 13th *2014-2022 : ''Did not qualify''

South Asian Games

Honours

**Gold Medal: 2010

Coaches

Head Coach:* Mamo Rafiq – 2007-now Assistant Coach: * Abdul Wasi Pazhman - 2010 Assistant Coach: * Leo Balayon - 2009

2010 team

The following twelve players were named to the roster for the 2010 Asian Games.

Depth chart

External links

Asia-basket - Afghanistan Men National TeamPresentation on Facebook

Videos

Afghanistan Basketball Team
Youtube.com video

References

{{National sports teams of Afghanistan Men's national basketball teams

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

Basketball teams in Afghanistan Basketball in Afghanistan 1966 establishments in Afghanistan

History

Early history

FIBA Asia Cup

Asian Games

South Asian Games

Competitive record

Summer Olympics

FIBA World Cup

FIBA Asia Cup

Asian Games

South Asian Games

Honours

Coaches

2010 team

Depth chart

See also

External links

Videos

References