Bana Ali, Champion of Basketball in Somalia, Dies at 54

Bana Abdalla Ali, who tirelessly championed basketball in Somalia and promoted sports among youngsters in a nation beset by civil war, died on April 28 in London,He was 54.

His death came after he had contracted the novel coronavirus, his family said. Mr. Ali had been treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London for almost a month.

A basketball enthusiast and a well-known player in Mogadishu before Somalia’s civil war began, he at various points over the years served as both the secretary general and head of marketing for Somalia’s national basketball team and was also a member of the East and Central Africa’s Inter City Basketball Committee.

 Mr. Ali was also a member of the Africa department of the International Basketball Federation, or FIBA Africa, which is part of the world governing body, FIBA, for the sport. Just this year, FIBA Africa said that Mr. Ali had for the first time helped attain corporate sponsorship for the Somali men’s senior national team, enabling it to travel to Kenya and participate in the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 pre-qualifiers.

Somalia’s civil war severely damaged sports infrastructure, and religious extremists also banned women from participating in sports. But as the country has moved toward peace in recent years, many sports, including basketball, have been revived with teams of men and women practicing and playing in courts guarded by government forces.

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