Al Riyadi Club Beirut (), commonly known simply as Al Riyadi, is a

multi-sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

team based in Manara, a district in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon. Founded in 1934, the multi-sports club, which is mainly known for their basketball program, also plays

ping-pong Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

, and other sports. Al Riyadi is the most successful basketball team in Lebanese history, and one of the best in Asian basketball. Competing in the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is recognized as the top-tier professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketb ...

, Al Riyadi is the most decorated Lebanese basketball club, with 31 league titles, a joint-record three

Basketball Champions League Asia The Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia), formerly the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, is an annual continental club men's basketball competition organised by FIBA Asia. It is the highest level club competition for basketball in Asia. Introduce ...

titles, and five Arab Club Championships. Nicknamed ''"the Yellow Castle",'' basketball team plays its home games at the Saeb Salam Arena.

History

Al Riyadi Club was founded in 1934 by Hussein Sejaan, Hassan Ladki, Fouad Zantout, Youssef Shaker, Mustafa Shaker, Zouheir Yatim, Helmi Chehab, and Wafic Nsouli, who formed the first basketball team. The team played its first game against a foreign team in 1947, when Al Riyadi faced Turkish club

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

, and lost the game 33–39. The game was attended by the first

President of Lebanon The president of the Lebanese Republic () is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliament for a term of six years, which cannot be renewed immediately because they can only be renewed non-consecutively. By convention, ...

Bechara El Khoury Bechara Khalil El Khoury (; 10 August 1890 – 11 January 1964) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 1st president of Lebanon, holding office from 21 September 1943 to 18 September 1952, apart from an 11-day interruption (11–22 Novembe ...

. Al Riyadi launched its first women's basketball team in 1965. The club built its own sports arena, the Saeb Salam Arena, in 1991, helped by former President

Tammam Salam Tammam Saeb Salam (, ; born 13 May 1945) is a Lebanese politician who was the Prime Minister of Lebanon from February 2014 until December 2016. He also served as the acting President of Lebanon from May 2014 until October 2016 in his capacity as ...

. In the 2023–24 season, Al Riyadi secured their 31st Lebanese league championship, their first

FIBA West Asia Super League The FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) is a regional basketball league organised by FIBA Asia, consisting of clubs from West Asia, India and Kazakhstan. The league was announced in 2022 and started with the inaugural season from December, until J ...

title, and their third Asian continental title by winning the

2024 Basketball Champions League Asia The 2024 Basketball Champions League Asia was the first edition of the Basketball Champions League Asia, and the 29th season of the continent's top club competition. The tournament was previously known as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, and was las ...

. As champions, they qualified directly for the

2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup The 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup was the 34th edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. The tournament was hosted at the Singapore Indoor Stadium for a second consecutive year under a three-year agreement with the Singaporean government. It w ...

, making them the first Lebanese team to compete in the tournament. At the

, Al Riyadi finished 4th out of 6 teams with a record of 1 win and 2 losses.

Arenas and facilities

The Saeb Salam Arena was finished in 1991 and holds a capacity for 2,500 people. Al Riyadi played last 2 seasons their FIBA West Asia Super League at Nohad Nawfal Stadium, due to its big capacity, while waiting to innovate the Saeb Salam Arena in Manara.

Achievements

The following is a list of achievements the club has won.

Domestic

**Winners (31): 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 * Lebanese Basketball Cup **Winners (4): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2019 * Lebanese Basketball Supercup **Winners (2): 2012, 2019

International

**Winners (3):

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

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 featu ...

** Winners (5): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 *

**Winners (2): 2023–24, 2024–25 **West Asia League winners (3):

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2023–24, 2024–25 *

WABA Champions Cup The WABA Champions Cup, between 2011 and 2012 known as the West Asian Basketball League (WABL), was the West Asian club championship for basketball organized by West Asia Basketball Association, and took place every year, It also served as a q ...

**Winners (4):

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Players

Retired numbers

Current roster

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Notable players

Jean Abdelnour Jean Abdelnour (, born 29 November 1983) is a Lebanon, Lebanese former basketball player. He had a successful 2002–03 season with Ghazir which led him to be signed by the Blue Stars (Lebanon), Bluestars for the 2003–04 season. He stayed with ...

* Ismail Ahmad */ Dalibor Bagarić *

Benoit Benjamin Lenard Benoit Benjamin e-NOYT(; born November 22, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1st round (3rd overall) of the 1985 NBA draft. A 7'0" center from Creighton Unive ...

* Rodney Buford * Tony Dawson */

Quincy Douby Quincy Douby (born May 16, 1984) is an American-born, naturalized Montenegrin former professional basketball player. At , , Douby played shooting guard for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The Sacramento Kings made him the 19th selection of the 2006 ...

Fadi El Khatib Fadi El Khatib (; born 1 January 1979), nicknamed the "Lebanese Tiger", and "Abu Jihad" is a Lebanese basketball player for Sagesse SC of the Lebanese Basketball League. El Khatib played for several teams in the Lebanese Basketball League, and a ...

Andre Emmett Andre Emmett (August 27, 1982 – September 23, 2019) was an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and was named a consensus All-American as a senior in 2004. He had brief stints in ...

Matt Freije Matthew Wayne Freije (born October 2, 1981) is a Lebanese/ American former professional basketball player. Freije attended Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park, Kansas before attending Vanderbilt University where he was an All-SEC ...

Dion Glover Micaiah Diondae "Dion" Glover (born October 22, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a member of the BIG3 basketball league's inaugural championship ...

Donté Greene Donté Dominic Greene (born February 21, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange for one year before being selected with the 28th overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in th ...

* Manny Harris *

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. Taking the PC ...

* Rick Hughes * Orlando Johnson *

Ricky Ledo Ricardo Julio Ledo (born September 10, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Beirut Club of the Lebanese Basketball League. He committed to play for the Providence Friars, but the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( ...

* Zach Lofton */ Ali Mahmoud */

Thon Maker Thon Marial Maker (born 25 February 1997) is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player for the Al Riyadi Club Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball Federation. He attended high school at Orangeville District Secondary School (Onta ...

* Randolph Morris * Kevin Murphy *

Lee Nailon Lee Nailon (born February 22, 1975) is an American professional basketball player who played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the 2007 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP. In 2011, he was the top scorer in the ...

* Julius Nwosu */ Daniel Ochefu * Aleksandar Radojević */ Duop Reath * Jamal Robinson * Jonathon Simmons *

Willie Warren Willie D. Warren (born October 22, 1989) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. High school career After a successful high school career at North Crowley High School, Warren was s ...

Loren Woods Loren Gerard Woods (born June 21, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. He previously played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). High school and college career Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Woods atte ...

References

External links

* *

Lebanese Basketball Federation The Lebanese Basketball Federation, known in French language, French as the Fédération Libanaise de Basketball (FLB or FLBB), is the Sports governing body, governing body of basketball in Lebanon. The federation founded in 1947, represents baske ...

{{Lebanese Football Association Al Riyadi Club Beirut 1934 establishments in Lebanon Basketball teams established in 1934 Basketball teams in Lebanon Sport in Beirut