Lebanon's Football Scandal Reflects Political Divide

Amid a political crisis, a shaky security situation, and a stagnant economy, the Lebanese faced yet another national issue, but of another kind, last Sunday, July 21. The Lebanese basketball team was forced to return home from the Philippines, disappointed and excluded. The team was unable to participate in the Asian Cup qualifying matches as a result of the decision taken by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to freeze Lebanon’s membership at the international, union and club levels, and to prevent it from participating in any basketball event outside Lebanon. This decision is due to an internal sports dispute, in which most of the Lebanese political officials were involved, and which contributed to the consecration of 2013 as the year of Lebanese sports scandals.

A quarter of a century has passed since the last scandal that drew the attention of all sports enthusiasts in Lebanon. This was during the Lebanese civil war, when everything was collapsing, including sports and its institutions. At that time, during the Seoul Olympics in 1988, an official from the Lebanese Judo Federation chose to go on a vacation to the Korean capital to attend the most important international sports event. He registered himself among the Lebanese Judo team players, although he was in his 60s at that time. His plan was almost foolproof, until the Lebanese were stunned when watching the Olympics live on television. News outlets reported that the old man had refrained from showing up, thus losing to his young rival — a loss that ended his journey to the Olympics during the first round.

This scandal soon became the subject of banter and jokes, rather than being subject to accountability in a country which at the time had two governments and two armies, and no president or parliament.

The Lebanese have forgotten about the incident in Seoul, but the year 2013 brought them a series of heroes in a series of scandals.