Brazil’s Flamengo won the FIBA Intercontinental Cup title after overcoming Spain’s defending champions Hereda San Pablo Burgos 75-62 to become the first club outside of Europe and the US to win the event held in Cairo. Egypt also became the first ever African country to host the international basketball tournament. 

Flamengo had first lifted the coveted trophy in 2014 and remain the only Brazilian club to win the cup in the 21st century.

Flamengo’s Lucas Martinez was named MVP of the tournament, averaging 14.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and four assists a game. He was presented the award by Greek legend Vasilis Spanoulis, the winner of the MVP award in 2013.

The tournament included Zamalek, champions of the inaugural Basketball Africa League campaign, alongside Burgos, the European representative, Flamengo, who represented South America, and Lakeland Magic as North America’s champions.

Zamalek were crowned the African champions after defeating US Monastir of Tunisia in the final held in Rwanda in May 2021.

Zamalek, the first African club to participate in the tournament, lost their first match to Burgos, winner of the 2021 edition, 78-61, then Lakeland Magic for third place 113-78.

The long list of guests in attendance included FIBA President Hamane Niang, FIBA Secretary-General Andreas Zagklis, FIBA Africa President and Executive Committee member Anibal Manave, Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhi and Egyptian Basketball Federation (EBF) President Magdi Abo Freikha.

They thanked Egypt for what some called the “great organisation” of the event and the “remarkable sports facilities” found in the new Hassan Mustafa indoor halls set up during Egypt’s hosting of the Handball World Championship three months ago.

At halftime, Zagklis presented Abo Friekha and EBF Vice-President Mohamed Abdel-Motaleb Suleiman with a framed letter of affiliation dated 1934 when the EBF became a member of FIBA, the International Basketball Federation. 

The commemorative award underscored the milestone nature of the tournament, in the context of the 90 years of FIBA celebrations, and serves as a gesture of appreciation towards the EBF for hosting the event.

Sobhi hailed Zamalek’s performance and thanked the White Knights for doing their best against the “big champions” of the world. “Egypt is writing history and entering a new phase of hosting international events for the first time and in a crucial time of the Covid-19 pandemic to show the world how stable and welcoming our country is. This is all due to the continuous support of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi who is always encouraging Egyptian players in all sports,” Sobhi said.

Zamalek’s loss came just as the club’s former president Mortada Mansour won a new round of elections for another term in office.

Mansour collected 21,108 votes, over 5,000 more than his closest rival Ahmed Suleiman.

In all, 47,395 club members voted in the elections on Friday 11 February, with 10,000 votes ruled invalid.

Mansour, 69, will be president until 2025. 

Mustafa Hadhoud was named vice-president and Khaled Latif treasurer. Mansour’s son Ahmed returned to the board along with club football legend Gamal Abdel- Hamid.

The board also included Alaa Nagy, Suleiman Wahdan, Alaa Mekled, Mariam Rizk, Mahmoud Taha, Basant Gohar and Ahmed Debes.

Mansour, a controversial lawyer and former parliamentarian, served as president of Zamalek from 2014-2020. He and the club’s board were suspended after financial breaches were discovered in the club’s records and referred to the Egyptian Public Prosecution.

Former board member Hani Zada had appealed the suspension and in May 2021 the Egyptian Administrative Court agreed to have a hearing in October of that year on the matter. The court ruled in their favour.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 17 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.