Federation Message

Board Members of Jordan Basketball Federation

The President: Mr. Mohammad Alayyan
Treasurer: Mr. Ahmad Tijani
Member: Miss. Dina Halasa
Member: Mr. Bade' Yaiesh
Member: Mr. Iyad Zawaideh
Member: Mr. Faris Hijazi
Member: Miss. Zein Malhas

Welcome, basketball fans visiting our website! We extend our utmost regards to Jordan’s ever-so enlightened and ambitious basketball community.

At the end of 2017, His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin al-Hussein, the President of the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC), granted us the honor to manage the basketball scene in our beloved Jordan. During this period, we were shown enormous generosity, given the needed support and advice, and steered in the right direction to outlining a plan that is bound to save the game we all love. We united our efforts and unleashed our ideas and envisions as the dedicated interim committee, which consisted of basketball experts and fanatics who were determined to employ the principles of good governance in their endeavor. Our plan—with the grace of God, the support of the basketball community, and the determination of Jordanian fans—was quite successful.

We preserved as one. The task was to restore basketball’s popularity, mitigate its decline, consolidate its prestige, enliven its community, renew confidence, and inspire hope.

Many will evaluate and criticize the period of our management with Jordan’s most noteworthy achievement in mind: qualifying as West Asia’s sole representative in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China, thereby repeating the achievement of the only sports team to ever qualify for the World Cup in Jordanian history—but, by doing so, they would be mistaken.

That is not the achievement nor the benchmark we have highlighted for evaluating our volunteer work at the Committee. Fair observers will recall how we ended the 2018 and 2019 seasons with doubled activity, without bearing any financial deficits or austerity, and how we launched all tournaments after a long period of stagnation. Some historians will call to mind our pinpoint intervention in 2018, which entailed our equal distribution of Jordanian Premier Basketball League players to local clubs via a technical application (the Bidding System), an action unimagined by any official association worldwide, as confirmed by the International Basketball Federation. The players entered into contract with the clubs for a full year of service, in the aim to better the national team’s performance and revive the Premier League. They shall also remember how we brought life back to our courts. We reviewed, developed and republished all regulations, and launched an innovative financial support system for all age-groups based on effort and not strictly dependent on positive results. We introduced a new online system for registering players, and reached out to our fans by broadcasting all matches on social media platforms.

We are proud that eminent hosting clubs have reestablished relations with the federation after long negotiations, and are delighted with the organization of the Jordan Basketball League, which led to rearranging the first and second divisions of the Premier League. We are also proud to have launched the Women's League with an enthusiasm never witnessed before on the courts. At the end of our first season, a massive show-up of northern fans marched to support the ambitious Kufryoba Club in Amman, who set their eyes on the Premier League in their match against Al-Ahli, bringing back memories of its golden era and fans celebrating its diamond jubilee. Glory returned, the 2019 season witnessed much cheering from the fans and families of Al-Wehdat Club, who were addicted to the love of basketball after a historic race for the title against a renewed Orthodox Club. Additionally, we cemented our bonds with and earned the trust of the First and Second Division clubs.

As for clubs of the north, which boast a long history of basketball talent, we agreed to amplify our given support and attention in the 2020 season to extend the age-group representation of these clubs, in order to provide the scene with new blood.

Regionally, we played a role in reinstating a Jordanian presidency to the West Asia Basketball Association by leading the reform efforts of our region's association.

We also worked on bringing back our beloved King Abdullah Basketball Cup, one of the most anticipated regional and Arab tournaments, which was suspended for a few years then. The move sought to further promote the game, promote Jordan to tourists, and advance the performance of our national players by giving them the opportunity to play against strong teams.

If there was one thing to highlight in regards to the Jordanian team’s qualification to the World Cup, it would not be the pride of qualifying, but the honor of bringing joy to Jordanians and uniting them around their flag and team, who brought victory after so many years of absent media coverage, support, or public interest. Women's and junior national teams were not overlooked, either; the two congregated for a long time in preparation for regional tournaments hosted by Jordan.

As hard-workers are rewarded, they must also be criticized. However, those who love the game for the love of the game; without any agendas or interests on line—followers, experts, honest media and fans who understood our vision from the beginning—helped us in overcoming obstacles by providing us with constructive criticism and advice at all stages of our journey.

But now that the end is nigh, we have our eyes set on our ultimate objective. If the 2018 season was the season of stability and the 2019 season was the season of sustainability, then we must agree that the 2020-2021 season should be that of expansion and growth. We must partner with all parties to expand our bases by scouting for potential talent and double the numbers of under-12-year-olds joining the game. We should look to launch university and school leagues, refine the skills of referees, and prepare technical supervisors to serve in Asia. There is also an urgent need to invest in supporting our coaches, increasing their numbers, classifying them, and training them to lead new teams that have delighted us with expressing their desire to join the Jordanian Basketball Federation. The task of bringing new blood to Jordanian basketball teams and investing in our women’s and junior teams will be the target set for the next stage. We hope to leave sustainable programs for those who will lead the way forward, once we fulfill our duties and obligations towards reviving the Jordanian basketball scene.