DIBC title race wide open as Al-Riyadi begs off

Al-Riyadi will miss the DIBC after begging off due to a lack of readiness. UAE Basketball Association (file photo)
By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--The Dubai International Basketball Championship will have a new champion, as Al-Riyadi will not participate in this year's edition.

The DIBC organizers confirmed on Monday through their Facebook page that the Lebanese basketball giant has resisted joining.

Last week, reports from the Lebanese publication Al-Liwaa cited Al-Riyadi's "lack of technical and physical readiness" as the primary reason for their withdrawal.

The DIBC for 2025 will run from Jan. 24-Feb. 2, which could give Al-Riyadi, assuming they make it all the way to the final, only a few days to shift their attention to the Lebanese league.

Al-Riyadi is also gearing up for the start of the West Asia Super League this March.

However, UAE Basketball Association president Ismail Al-Gergawi still promises a high-quality DIBC even with Al-Riyadi out, all the more that the championship is now vacant.

"The apology of Al-Riyadi will not affect the technical level of the tournament, despite the great efforts made to convince the club to be present in the 34th edition," said Al-Gergawi, also the chairman of the DIBC organizing committee.

Al-Gergawi also sees the arrival of the Zamboanga Valientes in the DIBC as pivotal now that two Filipino teams are in the mix along with the returning Strong Group Athletics.

"The current edition will witness the presence of two teams from the Philippines, each of which has separate fan bases from the other, which promises a new exceptional edition," he further said.

Even if SGA would not get a chance to avenge their championship loss last year to Al-Riyadi, coach Charles Tiu said that it would still be a tough grind for them this year.

"Even without them, the tournament's always very strong and loaded, and there are teams that are really deep," Tiu said.

Lebanon will still be well represented in the DIBC as Beirut Club, now known as Beirut First, and Sagesse will return.

"I think the Lebanese teams are preparing well. I heard they also had a break from basketball because of their situation in the country, so they want to come up a bit fired up for this tournament," Tiu continued.

SGA has been grouped with Beirut in Group A along with Amman United, Al-Nasr, and the UAE national team.

"We just have to be ready for them," Tiu said of Beirut.

Sagesse and Zamboanga are in Group B with Al-Ahli Tripoli, Tunisia's national team, and Sharjah, the other UAE-based team in the tournament.

Sagesse beefed up its roster with former PBA imports Shabazz Muhammad and Zach Lofton as well as former NBA veteran Malcolm Thomas, who was also supposed to play in the PBA.

The DIBC will open with a showdown between SGA and UAE at 11 p.m. Friday (Philippine Time).

Zamboanga's DIBC debut will happen the following night against Sharjah, just before SGA returns to action against Al-Nasr.

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