BEIRUT, 10 August 2006 — Their country may be in the grip of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah but Lebanon’s basketball players are determined to prove that life can go on.

Israeli blockades have cut their home country off from the rest of the world and sports stadiums have been transformed into refugee camps but it will not stop Lebanon’s participation in the upcoming basketball world championships.

The same cannot be said for other sports.

The country’s football team have already had to pull out of the Asian Cup qualifying tournament while the country’s club sides face an uncertain future in the Asian Champions League and Federation Cup.

But the basketball team have proved that sport in the country is not at a total standstill and have started on their road to the World Championships, from Aug. 19 to Sept. 3 in Japan. “This adventure is difficult for all the players but we all agreed that we had to take part in the world festival of basketball,” the Lebanese Federation General Secretary Ghassan Fares told AFP.

“We have to show the whole world this message that the Lebanese people won’t buckle, no matter the obstacles.” Before the conflict in Israel and Lebanon erupted last month, the team had already secured the funding to embark on a trip that took in warm-up tournaments in Istanbul, via Syria and Jordan, and Slovenia.

The team heads to the Philippines for their final preparation games before traveling to Japan.

It would have been tempting to pack it all in given the inauspicious performance in Lebanon’s only other World Championships outing, four years ago in Indianapolis, USA.

Lebanon finished last, behind Algeria, having lost to Brazil, Turkey, Puerto Rico and Canada, as well as their Arab compatriots.

But victories over Canada (83-80) and Venezuela (81-70) in the Slovenian tournament showed they can compete with some of the other nations that will be appearing in Japan.

Lebanon’s first match will be against Venezuela before they tackle far harder obstacles in Argentina, Serbia and France before finishing the group stage with a match against Nigeria. But just being there is what counts for this team. “Our players have high morality,” said team director Jassem Kansou. “They consider their participation at the World Championships as a national obligation and an expression of the solidarity and resistance of Lebanon.

“It is true that their normal festive character is missing but we are sure they will manage to overcome the crisis and their worries about their families.”