Al-Ahly Benghazi
Al-Ahly Benghazi logo
NicknameThe Long Journey
The Butchers
LeaguesLibyan Basketball League
BAL
Founded1950
(parent club: 1947)
HistoryAl Ahly Benghazi
(1950–present)
LocationBenghazi, Libya
Team colorsRed, White
   
ChairmanKhaled Mohamed
Head coachAoun Monaem
Championships3 (2010, 2011, 2023)
Websitealahly.com.ly

Al-Ahly Sports Cultural & Social Club (Arabic: الأهلي), also known as simply Al-Ahly or Al-Ahly Benghazi, is a Libyan basketball club that is based in Benghazi. Founded in 1950, the club competes in the Libyan Division I Basketball League and has won three championships, in 2010, 2011 and 2023.

In the 2024 season, they will play in the Basketball Africa League (BAL), becoming the first team from Libya to play in the competition. Al Ahly has won the Arab Club Championship in 2012 and 2013.

History

Al-Ahly is the basketball section of the multi-sports club; the basketball section was founded in 1950, although the club had been active before. They finished third in the 2008–09 Libyan League season.[1] The club won their first national championship in 2010, and won a second consecutive one in 2011.

In 2012, Al Ahly won the Arab Club Basketball Championship, by defeating JS Kairouan of the Tunisia in the final.[2] They repeated for a second consecutive title in 2013. Both tournaments were hosted in Benghazi.

Al Ahly ended a 12-year drought in 2022-23, when the club won its third national championship. As such, Al-Ahly was eligible to represent Libya in the Road to BAL 2024 tournament. They acquired high-profile players such as ex-BAL Defensive Player of the Year Ater Majok, All-BAL First Team selection Chris Crawford and two-time BAL champion Solo Diabate. On 5 November 2023, Al Ahly clinched their berth in the 2024 BAL season, following their 93-84 win over FAP in the third place game. Crawford scored 39 points in the decisive game.[3] As such, Al Ahly Benghazi became the first team from Libya to qualify for the BAL main tournament.[3]

Honours

Libyan Basketball League

Libyan Supercup[4]

  • Winners (2): 2010, 2023

Arab Club Basketball Championship

  • Champions (2): 2012, 2013

In African competitions

FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup (3 appearances)

2010 – Group Stage
2011 – Group Stage
2013 – 8th Place

Road to BAL (1 appearance)

2024 – Place

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Al Ahly Benghazi roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
G 1 United States Lofton, Zach 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 31 – (1992-11-18)18 November 1992
C 3 South Sudan Majok, Ater 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 36 – (1987-07-04)4 July 1987
SG 6 United States Crawford, Chris 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 31 – (1992-09-30)30 September 1992
F 8 Libya Zeew, Adrees 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 23 – (2000-05-10)10 May 2000
PF 9 Libya Hamad, Sofian 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 25 – (1998-10-16)16 October 1998
PG 10 Ivory Coast Diabate, Solo 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 36 – (1987-07-21)21 July 1987
C 12 Libya Aldirfili, Omar 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1997-03-02)2 March 1997
C 13 Libya Elmansouri, Anis Zaid Ali 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 29 – (1995-01-04)4 January 1995
SG 14 Libya Aljahmi, Asmaeil 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 24 – (1999-09-28)28 September 1999
PG 19 Libya Alrashidi, Rasheed 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 20 – (2003-12-01)1 December 2003
PF 23 Libya Almaghribi, Ghayth Alrahman 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 24 – (1999-01-25)25 January 1999
PG 30 Libya Benalhaj, Mahmoud Abdalla 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 32 – (1991-01-25)25 January 1991
Head coach
  • Tunisia Aoun Monaem

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured

Updated: 2 November 2023

Head coaches

The following people have been, among others, head coach of Al Ahly Benghazi:

  • Libya Emad El-Din: (1985–1986)
  • Egypt Mahmoud Emad: (2009–2011)[5]
  • Serbia Veselin Matić: (2012–2014)
  • Serbia Radenco Orlovic: (2017–2018)[6]
  • Serbia Zoran Cvetanović: (2021–2022)
  • Algeria Mohamed Yahaya: (2022)[7]
  • Tunisia Aouen Monaem (2022–present)

References

  1. Libya Title Goes to Al-Nasser, Basket-in-Africa.blogspot.com
  2. "Arabian Clubs Basketball Championship 2012 goes to Ahli Libya". Court Side. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Al Ahly Benghazi pick last ticket from the West Division to the BAL 2024 season". FIBA.basketball. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  4. Eurobasket. "Al Alhy Benghazi basketball, News, Roster, Rumors, Stats, Awards, Transactions, Details-afrobasket". Eurobasket LLC. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
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