Spectators at a football match in Mogadishu


Besides soccer, which remains the most populous sport in the country, Somalia also has a national basketball team. It is yet to make an appearance in the FIBA World Championship. Its best effort in the FIBA Africa Championship was winning the bronze medal in 1981 when they hosted the event. Omar Mohamed Omar was the coach of the team from 2007 until his death in 2008.


Somalia competed in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1972 Summer Olym- pics in Munich, West Germany, and subsequently furnished athletes for the editions of 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. Their best record till date is the Men’s 1,500 metres final, where Abdi Bile reached the 6th place with 3:38.03 in the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.


A Basketball club in Somalia


Most of the prestigious sports facilities in Somalia were fortunately preserved from major destructions during the deadly upheavals, making the country to still boast of infrastructures capable of host- ing continental events. The Mogadiscio Stadium is the biggest sport facility in Somalia, built in the country’s capital Mogadishu. It features a tournament ground, as well as grounds for track and field, football, basketball, volleyball and tennis, with a capacity of 35,000 spectators.


51


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124