Lebanese Basketball League

Pepsi Lebanese Basketball Championship (FLB)
Current season, competition or edition: 2015–16 FLB season
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1994 (New Format)
CEO	Walid Nassar
Claim to fame	"The pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in the West Asia"
No. of teams	9
Country	Lebanon
Continent	FIBA Asia (Asia)
Most recent champion(s)	Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut
Most titles	Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut
TV partner(s)	LBCI
Official website	www.flbb.com

The Lebanese Basketball League or FLB League is the top basketball league in Lebanon and one of the top leagues in Asia. It is organised annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketball Federation (FLB).

As per January 2, 2016, The Men Division A made up of 9 teams is named PEPSI FLB League due to sponsorship reasons.

History

The initial Lebanese basketball league was formed in as early as the 1950s and was stopped during the civil war. After the war ended, in 1994 the league was totally reformed in a new fully professional format that is being since the foundation of the league today.

A short glimps to the start of the golden days and rise to fame: in 1997 Sporting Club (Al Riyadi) finished as lebanese champions, the next season they went to participate in the Asian championship they reached the 3rd place and on their return to Beirut the Lebanese fans were on the streets to celebrate this achievement. The same year in 1998 Riyadi lost the lebanese championship to their big rivals Sagesse Club (Hekmeh). Lebanon hosted a big tournament, the Arab club Championship Which Sagesse won to be the 1st ever trophy for Lebanon. Beirut did not sleep that night all over the country people were on the roads partying till dawn, the next day all the schools were closed as a national holiday. In 1999 Beirut hosted the Asian Championship for clubs, Sagesse managed to win the first ever Asian title for any Lebanese or Arab team, celebrations were all over the country. This same year Sagesse managed to retain their title in the Arab club Championship which was held for the second consecutive time in Beirut. In May 2000, Lebanon once more hosted the Asian Championship for clubs and again Sagesse Club won it and created history for being the only team to win the championship two consecutive times.

Overview

The league itself is most known in Asia due to the success of the Lebanese teams in the Asian competitions such as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Arab Club Championship, and West Asian Basketball League. Many undrafted and free agent players from Europe and the NBA play in the Lebanese league.

The league is the first division in Lebanese basketball: the team that finishes last in a season is relegated to the Division 2, while the Second Division's top 4 teams compete in a play-off system right after the end of the regular season, with the team that reaches the finals series being promoted to the Lebanese League for the following season.

The Competition

There are 10 teams in the league and they play against each other twice in the league, once at their home and the other away. At the end of those two rounds, the final 8 teams enter to the playoffs they play three games series. The winners of the Quarterfinals advance to the best of four game series Semifinals. The two teams that advance play best of four games in the Final to determine the league champion. The season starts in December and ends in May

FLB League (Standings since 1996)

Season	Champion	Runner-up
1996–1997	Al Riyadi	Tadamon Zouk
1997–1998	Sagesse	Tadamon Zouk
1998–1999	Sagesse	Tadamon Zouk
1999–2000	Sagesse	Antranik Antelias
2000–2001	Sagesse
2001–2002	Sagesse	Champville
2002–2003	Sagesse	Al Riyadi
2003–2004	Sagesse	Al Riyadi
2004–2005	Al Riyadi
2005–2006	Al Riyadi	Sagesse
2006–2007	Al Riyadi	Blue Stars
2007–2008	Al Riyadi	Mouttahed
2008-2009	Al Riyadi	Mouttahed
2009-2010	Al Riyadi	Champville
2010-2011	Al Riyadi	Champville
2011-2012	Champville	Anibal
2012-2013	League Cancelled
2013-2014	Al Riyadi	Sagesse
2014-2015	Al Riyadi	UBA

Notable clubs that did not finish in the top 2 spots in the new format league :

Currently not in Div1:

Rosaire Club
Cafe Najjar Club
Kahraba Zouk
Aamal Bikfayya
Mont la Salle
Club Central
College Saint Joseph Antoura
Abna' Neptun

Rivalries and Friendships

Rivalries:

Al Riyadi vs Sagesse Club. It is the "biggest" match in the league, a classical game since 1994 between the two most successful teams in Lebanon and two of the most successful in the Arab world and Asia also known as the Derby of Beirut.
Sagesse Club vs Champville
Sagesse Club vs Tadamon Zouk
Byblos Club vs Al Riyadi

Friendships: