Other Sports

Al-Ahly Sports Cultural & Social Club is a Libyan football club based in Benghazi, Libya. Mohammed Bashir Al-Mogherbi was the first president of the club. Al-Ahly Benghazi has its roots in a political party, the Omar al Mukhtar society.

The club won 5 cups in a successful period from 1980 to 1996. Al-Ahly Benghazi was made a professional football club in 1947, although they had existed years before then. Al Ahly is the most supported club in Benghazi and is famous in Libya for its passionate, loyal and sometimes violent crowds, who stood by the club through frustrating times.

In 2000, the club’s stadium was demolished by the Libyan government, supposedly destroying records, trophies and medals of the club. The demolition was allegedly carried out in response to Al-Ahly fans insulting Saadi Gaddafi by dressing a donkey in a shirt baring his squad number, but other sources pointed to the burning a few days before of the Libyan Football Federation offices in Benghazi by angry Al-Ahly fans as the matter. The club was then given an indefinite ban which lasted until 2005. Saadi Gadafi had denied all the allegations.

The club has been given 77 acres (310,000 m2) of land for a new ground by the Libyan Jamahiriya government, although it cannot afford to develop it. Al Ahly is one of the biggest clubs in Libya, and along with Tripoli’s clubs, the most prevalent in Libya.

Ahly Benghazi have the second largest football popularity in Libya. It has a big amount of fans in Libya. There are about 1 million Ahly Benghazi fans in the country.

The Libyan Arab Basketball Federation (LBF) is the governing body for men’s and women’s basketball in Libya. LBF has been an affiliate of FIBA Africa since 1961 and its offices are located in Tripoli.
The LBF was a traditional powerhouse in the North African region. The Libyan national team participated in the FIBA Africa Championship games three times, in 1965, 1970, and 1978, where they placed fifth, fifth, and tenth respectively. In past years, the federation was not very active, but recently began initiating a couple of important activities to improve the level of play in Libya and the African continent.

Camel racing, sport of running camels at speed, with a rider astride, over a predetermined course. The sport is generally limited to running the dromedary, whose name is derived from the Greek verb dramein, “to run” rather than the Bactrian camel.

Camels are customarily used as a means of transportation and are reared for their meat, milk, and hides. Camel racing is as old as history itself. On the Arabian Peninsula, the native habitat of the dromedary, it can be traced to at least the early Islamic period, in the 7th century ce. Although traditionally overshadowed by horse racing in that region.