Al-Ittihad ( ar, الاتحاد بحلب) is a major professional

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 ...

club. It is a part of the

Al-Ittihad Sports Club Al-Gharafa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الغرافة الرياضي) is a Qatari multisports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan. It is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. It was est ...

, which is based in Aleppo, Syria. Al-Ittihad is the second most titled basketball club with 20 Syrian League titles and 21 Syrian Cups one of the most successful basketball clubs in Syria. ''Al-Ahli'' was founded in 1951, two years after the founding of the multi-sport club and the football team.

History

The club, which was founded in 1951, is one of the most famous and popular basketball clubs in Syria. The club changed its name in 1972, its previous one, Al Ahli, being used as a club nickname. The club's Great Era began in 1978 with the victory of the Syrian Cup and the defeat of Al Jalaa SC in the SBL final of the following 1979 season. In the league finals, Al-Ittihad defeated Al Jalaa in Aleppo twice 90-72 and 59-50, then achieved a third victory in the decisive match that took place in Damascus for

exceptional circumstances Exceptional circumstances are the conditions required to grant additional powers to a government agency or government leader so as to alleviate, or mitigate, unforeseen or unconventional hardship. The term is commonly used in Australia, where it ...

66-58. This season is also remarkable that they claimed the Republic Cup by defeating Al Jalaa 76-71. Al Ittihad has twice been invited to take part in the FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague). The first participation was in the 1979-80 season, during which the club, led by coach Munther Shalaby, faced in Group E the

KK Partizan Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, English: Partizan Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Partizan or simply Partizan, is a professional basketball team based in Belgrade, Belgrade, Ser ...

BC Partizani Tirana BC Partizani Tirana is a basketball team that play in the Albanian A-1 League. It is the most successful club in the Albanian Basketball history with 33 championship titles won. History Honors *Albanian League (33): :1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1 ...

and Budapest Honvéd SE. The club was supposed to take part in the 1981–82 FIBA European Champions Cup as well, but after its beginning they withdrew from the competition. During the 1980s, Al-Ittihad was the Syrian League's hegemon as they won every domestic competition. The club's first major success on the international stage was third place at the 1991 Arab Basketball Championships. In the following season, the club won both home titles, advanced to the finals of the Arab Championship and defeated EO La Goulette Kram. The Great Era of domestic domination ended in the 1994 season with a loss in the SBL final with the Al-Wahda. In the 2000 season, they won their last long title in the Syrian Cup, the penultimate title in the SBL and advanced to the

WABA Champions Cup The WABA Champions Cup, between 2011 and 2012 known as the West Asian Basketball League (WABL), was the West Asian club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (s ...

. In the 2001 season, however, they finished third behind Al-Wahda and Orthodox BC. In the 2006 season, they won their last domestic SBL title, finishing ahead of Al Jalaa SC, Al-Jaish and Al Wahda in the Final Four. In the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

seasons, they participated in the WABA Cup, but without significant success. After the outbreak of the conflict in Syria and the

Battle of Aleppo A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, the club's operations were limited and its survival uncertain. Fortunately, the sports club managed to survive and the first big success under coach Bassel al Hamwi was the Syrian Cup victory in the 2020 season. In the 2022 season, Al-Ittihad won the

Syrian Super Cup The Syrian Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر السوري) is a Syrian association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Syrian Premier League and the winners of the Syrian Cup The Syrian Cup ( ar, سوريا) i ...

when they defeated Al-Wahda 60:52 in the final of the competition.

Home arena

Al-Assad Sports Arena Al-Assad Sports Arena ( ar, صالة الأسد الرياضية) is the 2nd largest indoor sports hall in Aleppo, Syria. With a seating capacity of 3,500 spectators, the arena is designated to host basketball, handball and volleyball matches. Al- ...

: 1978–2021 *

Al-Hamadaniah Sports Arena Al-Hamadaniah Sports Arena ( ar, صالة الحمدانية الرياضية) is an indoor sports hall in Aleppo, Syria. With a seating capacity of 7,964, it is the largest indoor hall in Syria. It is designated to host basketball, handball a ...

: 2021–present Image:Al-Assad Arena (30.12.2017).jpg,

interior during a match Image:Hamadania arena.jpg, A panorama of

For many years, Ittihad has used the

, with a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...

of 3,500, to host its home games. Currently, Ittihad uses the 7,964 seat

for its home games.

Club rivalries

Al-Ittihad SC plays the Aleppo city derby "El Clásico" with its main rival Al-Jalaa SC. Other urban rivals of the club are

Al-Hurriya SC Al-Hurriya Sports Club () is a Syrian football club based in Aleppo. It was founded in 1952. They play their home games at the al-Hamadaniah Stadium. History *1952 : Club founded as ''Al Arabi'' *1972 : Club renamed to ''Al Horriya'' Honours ...

Al-Yarmouk SC Al-Yarmouk is a Kuwaiti professional sports club located in the district of Mishref. It was established on 28 February 1965 in Failaka Island and was the only Kuwaiti club to have been established outside mainland Kuwait at that time. The club ...

(Homenetmen) and

Ouroube SC Ouroube Sports Club () ( hy, Ուրուբե) is a Syrian sports club based in Aleppo, best known for their football team and basketball teams (men and women). Founded in 1923, Ouroube is the oldest sports organization in Syria. The club is pa ...

Honours

Domestic

* Syrian Basketball League **Winners (20): 1979 - 1980 - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1995 - 1996 - 2000 - 2006 - 2022 *Syrian Basketball Cup **Winners (21): 1978 - 1979 - 1980 - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1997 - 1998 - 2000 - 2020 *

Syrian Basketball Super Cup The Syrian Basketball Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر السوري لكرة السلة) is the top-tier level national domestic basketball super cup competition, that is played between professional clubs in Syria. It was founded in 2021 as a ...

**Winners (1):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

International

**Third place (1):

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

**Sixth place (2):

Arab Club Basketball Championship The Arab Club Championship is an annual basketball tournament for Arab teams. The competition is organised by the Arab Basketball Confederation (ABC). Each season is typically held in October and is held in one venue. The tournament typically feat ...

**Winners (1): 1992 **Third place (1): 1991 * EuroLeague **Quarter-finals:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

*Dubai International Tournament **Third place (1): 2005

International record

Sponsorship

*As of 2022:

Current roster

Squad for the 2021–2022 Syrian Basketball League season:

Transfers

''Transfers for the 2021-22 season:'' Joining * Antwan Scott from Al Hilal SC * Mohamed Harat from

Al Fateh SC Al Fateh Sports Club ( ar, نادي الفتح الرياضي) is a Saudi Arabian multi-sports club based in Al-Mubarraz, Al-Ahsa. It is mainly known for its professional football club. The club derives its nickname, "Al-Namothaji" (T''he Para ...

* Wael Jlilaty from Duba SC * Ishaq Oubid from Jalaa SC *

Abdulwahab Al-Hamwi Abdulwahab Al-Hamwi (born June 15, 1990, in Homs) is a Syrian professional basketball player. He plays for Al-Ittihad SC of the Syrian Basketball League The Syrian Basketball League ( ar, الدوري السوري لكرة السلة) is the ...

from Al-Karamah *

Michael Madanly Micheal Madanly (born 10 March 1981 in Aleppo), better known as Michel Madanly or just Micho, is a Syrian professional basketball player. Most known in his prime playing for Jalaa SC's basketball programme from 2004 to 2011, he also played in a ...

from Jalaa SC Leaving * Wissam Yaqqub to Jalaa SC * Nazem Kassas to Wahda SC

Notable players

; *

Fadi El Khatib Fadi El Khatib ( ar, فادي الخطيب; born January 1, 1979), nicknamed "the Lebanese Tiger", is a Lebanese professional basketball player who plays in the Lebanese Basketball League for Sagesse. El Khatib played for several teams in the L ...

; * Micheal Madanly

Head coaches

Season by season

All-time records

*Most Syrian Basketball Cup champions (21 championships)

References

External links

basketball.asia, Al-Ittihad

Unofficial Fan Site and Forum
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Ittihad The Ittihad Party ( az, İttihad firqəsi) was a radical Islamist party in the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1917–1920. It was formed in September 1917 in opposition to the secular Musavat Party and proposed political unity of all the Mus ...

Sport in Aleppo Basketball teams established in 1951 1951 establishments in Syria