Sports in Lebanon Amid Regional Tensions: Business as Usual?

Despite months of airstrikes and regional tensions in the Middle East, the sports scene in Lebanon has shown no signs of slowing down. Professionals in the industry credit this to investors, associations, and the support of the fans. 

The past years have seen conflict dominating headlines across Lebanon. Many sectors, like tourism and hospitality, have borne the brunt of this crisis. One industry that seemed to be unfazed, however, is sports. Amid ongoing war, stadiums kept filling up and broadcasts of tournaments continued. 

“Every association is being able to contribute to the progress of its sport,” Wassim Hawly, General Secretary of the Lebanese Athletics Federation, said in Arabic. 

“Associations have been continuously organizing national championships, despite not only the war that we went through since September 2024, but also since 2019, when Lebanon was facing the economic and financial crises,” he added. 

In addition to the efforts of the athletic associations, Hawly cited recent assurances from the new government, which Prime Minister Nawaf Salam formed earlier in 2025. Nora Bayrakdarian became the Minister of Youth and Sports. 

“We want to send our appreciation to the new Minister, Nora Bayrakdarian, because from the moment the new ministry was formed, we felt that more attention was being given to sports,” Hawly said. 

Another driving force that kept the Lebanese sports industry on its feet is sponsorships, which have recently increased for certain sports. 

“We’re having more investors, at least where I’m at. For the first time in a couple of years, my team, which plays in the division four, had an investor, sponsor, and we’ve been more financially stable,” said Roubina Alabashian, a football committee member of pan-Armenian organization Homenetmen Beirut. “I think people are back to investing in sports this past year,” she said. 

Investors never stopped funding teams, even during the economic crisis in 2019, the pandemic that followed, and the recent war, according to Alabashian. Clubs have surprisingly received more funding this year. 

“Maybe it’s less than it used to be, not this year, though…I’ve seen firsthand how sponsors are back. They are back and they’re funding like they used to before 2019,” Alabashian said. 

The state of the sports industry in Lebanon differs from one sport to another. Basketball, being the country’s most popular sport, has always been the first to receive media attention as well as major sponsorships across different divisions. Lebanese basketball teams Sagesse and Riyadi reached the Final 8 stage in the FIBA West Asia Super League in 2024.

“There are sports that get more coverage and priority because of their fanbase and achievements,” sports journalist Wadih Abdel Nour said in Arabic. 

Football, on the other hand, is among the sports that have been facing challenges. While some clubs like Homenetmen Beirut—which also has a basketball team in the Lebanese Basketball League—have received financial backing, the sport as a whole is yet to recover from the war and the economic crisis. Handball has been another victim of regional instability, with an absence of a clear strategy holding it back. 

“In general, sports in Lebanon, regardless of the challenges, is still making progress. But let’s be clear, this is only the case in certain sports,” Hawly said. “When it comes to football, despite the potential, we’re not getting notable results on an international level.” 

Hawly points to lack of government funding as the main reason behind the poor infrastructure of underperforming sports like football and handball. Although the new government has expressed interest in supporting the sports industry, it is yet to address issues concerning strategy and funding. 

In the meantime, sports in Lebanon continues to rely on sponsorships and associations as well as the support of the public. 

“The people are there, the people are hungry, the people will always support their teams,” Alabashian said. “If there is one unifying force in Lebanon, it’s sports.”