Bassem Ali Marmar ( ar, باسم علي مرمر; born 28 March 1977) is a Lebanese football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Ahed. Starting his playing career at Ahed in 1996, Marmar helped Ahed win multiple titles, most notably the 2003–04

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The first edition, held in 1937, was won by Nahda. The most successful club in the competition is Ansar with 15 titles, followed by Nejme ...

, Ahed's first major trophy, and the

2007–08 Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese Premier League 2007/08 season is the 47th season in the Lebanese Premier League. The Championship was decided on the final matchday, when Al-Ansar and Nejmeh tied each other 1–1 while Al Ahed defeated Tadamon Sour 2–1 to win i ...

, Ahed's first league title. He was the club's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

from 2007 to his retirement in 2010. In 2016 Marmar was appointed head coach of Ahed, helping them win numerous domestic titles, as well as the 2019 AFC Cup, the first

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying ...

title for a Lebanese side. In 2020 Marmar took charge of Kuwaiti side Al-Arabi, becoming the first Lebanese coach to manage abroad. He returned to Ahed in 2021.

Playing career

Marmar began his senior career with

Lebanese Second Division The Lebanese Second Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الثانية) is the second division of Lebanese football. Established in 1933, it is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 12 teams that participate ...

side Ahed on 20 June 1996. He helped his side gain promotion to the

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الأولى), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. There are 12 teams competing in the league, ...

in 1998. In 2003–04 Marmar helped Ahed lift their first major trophy: the

. Marmar stated that, at the time, he refused the captain's armband; in 2007, however, the club's management decided for Marmar to become the club's captain. As captain, in 2007–08 Marmar helped Ahed win their first ever Lebanese Premier League. In 2010, Marmar retired as a footballer; despite his multiple injuries throughout his career, Marmar won two league titles (2007–08 and 2009–10), three Lebanese FA Cups (2003–04, 2004–05, and 2008–09), two

Lebanese Elite Cup The Lebanese Elite Cup () is a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the top six teams of the previous Lebanese Premier League season. Founded in 1996 as the Super League Cup, the first edition was contested by the top five finish ...

s (

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 ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

), a Lebanese Federation Cup (2004), and two

Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese ...

s (2008 and 2010).

Managerial career

Ahed

In 2007 Marmar was appointed assistant manager of Ahed, which was coached by German manager Robert Jaspert. Describing his time as Jaspert's assistant, Marmar stated that he "felt like a partner", which was "what made imwant to become a coach". Following his retirement as a player in 2010, Marmar went to Germany to get coaching courses. Upon his return to Lebanon, he was appointed

technical director A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. This person usually has the highest level of skill within a specific technical f ...

of Ahed's academy and youth sector. He won the under-15 league in 2012, the under-17 league in 2013 and 2014, and the under-17 league in 2015 and 2016. In 2014 and 2015, Marmar was Ahed's

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

; he became Ahed's first team manager in 2016 following the departure of Robert Jaspert. In his first season as coach, Marmar won the

2016–17 Lebanese Premier League The 2016–17 Lebanese Premier League is the 56th season of top-tier football in Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It ...

. Marmar was nominated 2016–17 Lebanese Premier League Coach of the Season. After winning the league, Marmar went back to coaching Ahed's youth side, citing difficulties with the players as the main reason. Three matchdays into the 2017–18 season, Marmar was re-appointed as head coach of Ahed. Marmar stated: "At that moment, there was a shift of mentality in the club. The players were starting to get accountable for their actions. The issues I faced when I was there started to vanish, so I took back the job." That season, Marmar helped Ahed win the domestic double, lifting both the league and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

titles. He was awarded Lebanese Coach of the Season for the second consecutive time. In 2018–19, Marmar helped Ahed win a second successive domestic double, lifting the league,

, and

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the ' curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the pre ...

. He went unbeaten for 46 games in a span of over two years. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Ahed beat North Korean club

25 April Events Pre-1600 *404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. * 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenians, Armenian rebellion ag ...

1–0 in the 2019 AFC Cup Final: they became the first Lebanese football club to accomplish the feat. Ahed only conceded three goals in 11 games, going unbeaten throughout the whole tournament. For the third consecutive time, Marmar was named Lebanese Coach of the Season. As Ahed's manager Marmar has won three league titles, two FA Cups, and two Super Cups, as well as the 2019 AFC Cup.

Al-Arabi

On 25 July 2020, after being involved with Ahed for 24 years as a player and as a manager, Marmar was hired as head coach of

Kuwait Premier League The Kuwait Premier League (), known as STC Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Kuwait football pyramid system. Formed in 1961, Al-Arabi, Qadsia and Kuwait both hold the best record in the competition, having won ...

club Al-Arabi. He became the first Lebanese manager to coach outside of Lebanon at professional level. Marmar reunited with former Ahed players

Ahmad Al Saleh Ahmad Al Saleh ( ar, أَحمَد الصَّالِح; born 20 May 1990) is a Syrian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back for Syrian club Al-Jaish and the Syria national team. Al Saleh was banned for life by the SFA afte ...

and Issah Yakubu. In Marmar's first game he helped Al-Arabi win 4–1 against Burgan on 10 September, in the quarter-finals of the

2019–20 Kuwait Crown Prince Cup This will be the 27th edition of Kuwait Crown Prince Cup where the 15 teams are in a knockout stage. Kuwait SC are the defending champions. Bracket Draw was held on 11 November 2019. Note: H: ''Home team'', A: ''Away team'' Final Ref ...

. Marmar won the competition, after beating

Kuwait SC Kuwait Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الكويت الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Kuwait City. The football team has won Kuwaiti Premier League 17 times. Kuwait SC also has over 50 trophies in Kuwaiti Club foot ...

2–1 in the final on 21 September. After one draw and one defeat in his first two league games, Marmar was dismissed on 26 October.

Return to Ahed

On 19 January 2021, ahead of the second leg of the 2020–21 season, Ahed announced that Marmar had returned as head coach.

Personal life

Marmar was born on 28 March 1977 in

Khobar Khobar ( ar, ٱلْخُبَر, translit=al-Khobar) is a city and governorate in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, situated on the coast of the Persian Gulf. With a population of 457,748 as of 2017, Khobar is part of the 'Triplet ...

, Saudi Arabia, to Lebanese parents; his family is originally from

Tayibe Tayibe, also spelled Taibeh or Tayiba, ( ar, الطيبة, lit=the kind/benevolent, translit=aṭ-Ṭayyibah, South Levantine pronunciation: ; he, טַיִּבָּה) is an Arab city in central Israel, north east of Kfar Saba.Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

. On 23 August 2020, Marmar tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

after flying from Lebanon to Kuwait to begin his coaching stint at Al-Arabi. Marmar underwent a two-week home quarantine. On 28 August, Marmar tested negative to a swab test; he ended his home quarantine period on 2 September.

Honours

Player

Ahed *

: 2007–08, 2009–10 *

: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09 *

* Lebanese Federation Cup: 2004 *

: 2008, 2010

Manager

Ahed *

* Lebanese Premier League: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22 * Lebanese FA Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19 * Lebanese Elite Cup:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

; runner-up:

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 ...

* Lebanese Super Cup: 2018,

Al-Arabi *

Kuwait Crown Prince Cup The Crown Prince Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) is a Kuwaiti domestic annual football competition created in 1994. Previous winners *1994 : Kuwait SC *1995 : Kazma SC *1996 : Al Arabi SC *1997 : Al Arabi SC *1998 : Qadsia SC *1999 : Al Ar ...

: 2019–20 Individual * Lebanese Premier League Best Coach: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marmar, Bassem 1977 births Living people People from Khobar Lebanese footballers Association football midfielders Association football defenders Al Ahed FC players Lebanese Second Division players Lebanese Premier League players Lebanese football managers Al Ahed FC managers Al-Arabi SC (Kuwait) managers Lebanese Premier League managers Kuwait Premier League managers AFC Cup winning managers Lebanese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Kuwait Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait