Egypt hosts the 22nd Emirates Airlines Men's Arab Basketball championship with the participation of 12 national teams from 30 December to 8 January at Cairo Stadium's indoor halls. At a press conference held last week at a five-star hotel, Magdi Abu Freikha, head of the Egyptian Basketball Federation and deputy of the Arab Basketball Federation, said Egypt wanted to hold the event in a Red Sea resort to give the participants an idea about peace in Sinai but changed the venue after seeing the tournament would not attract as many fans as in the capital. Abu Freikha said it was an honour for Egypt to host the competition for the last seven out of 10 times “which is fantastic. This reflects how not only Arabs trust Egypt. The International Basketball Federation (FIVB) agreed to give Egypt the chance to host the World Youth Championship in 2017.” Ismail Al-Karkawyi, head of the Arab and UAE Basketball Federation, said that for the first time in the history of Arab basketball “we were able to attract two main sponsors for all Arab competitions for the next three years: Emirates Airlines and Dubai Sports channel. This is a great achievement since we will be able to help national teams which could not previously go to Arab competitions because of financial constraints”. Al-Karkawyi also thanked Egypt for its federation's “perfect organisation” in receiving such a large number of national teams “although Egypt has always opened its arms to all Arab countries”. Al-Karkawi added that Egypt has sports and hotel establishments enabling it to hold major sporting events. He said the new sponsorships will allow the events to be broadcast live which will attract a greater number of fans from across the Arab world. Alongside the conference, the federation honored Egypt's superstars Amr Abul-Magd and Wafaa Salaheddin, the first Egyptian woman to play pro basketball. Also honoured was Mahmoud Ahmed Ali, former basketball federation president and ex-head of the Egyptian Olympic Committee. Abu Freikha sent a message asking Egypt's Sports Minister Khaled Abdel-Aziz for a massive renovation of Alexandria's Indoor Hall since it has over the years produced several basketball stars for the Egyptian national team.
