From left: Director of National Teams Yassin Ismail, fitness coach Nathaniel Alkidos, head coach Thanassis Skortopoulos and Qatar Basketball Federation Secretary General Saadoun Sabah Al Kuwari during a press conference, yesterday.
Doha: The Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF) announced its official contract with the Greek Thanassis Skortopoulos as the new head coach of the national team, and with him, fitness coach Nathaniel Alkidos. The announcement was made during a press conference held yesterday evening at the Federation’s headquarters, in the presence of Saadoun Sabah Al Kuwari, Secretary General, and Yassin Ismail, Director of National Teams.
For his part, Al Kuwari expressed his happiness at contracting with the Greek coach who succeeded Serbian coach, Miodrag Perisic.
Al Kuwari said that the coach has a distinguished CV, as he previously trained the Greek national team and many Greek clubs, and he is a big name in the world of coaching in Europe.
Al Kuwari explained that the national team has many important continental competitions, during which QBF seeks to honour Qatari basketball, especially that Doha will host the 2027 World Cup.
While Yassin Ismail praised the success of QBF, headed by Muhammad bin Saad Al Mughisib, in assigning the task of training Al Annabi to a coach with a distinguished personality and biography, as he is considered one of the best foreign coaches to coach the national teams.
The director of the national teams emphasised that the strategy of the Basketball Federation is to mix youth elements with those with experience, especially since the federation’s plan is to form a competitive team for many years.
The Greek coach Skortopoulos admitted that he did not hesitate for a single moment in accepting the offer to train the national basketball team, indicating that he has a lot of information about Qatari basketball through some friends and coaches who work in Doha.
Meanwhile, the fitness coach, Alkidos, confirmed that he is doing his best to raise the physical level of the players, expressing his happiness at joining the Qatari basketball family, which is preparing to host the World Cup in 2027 for the first time in the history of the Middle East.
In a related development, the delegation of our national basketball team will leave today to Chinese Taipei, to participate in the William Jones 42 Championship for men, which will start tomorrow and will continue until August 20. This tournament will witness the participation of teams that will participate in the 19th edition of the FIBA World Cup. It will be held in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines from August 25 to September 10, with the participation of 32 teams.
Al Anabi are scheduled to play in the William Jones 42 Men’s Championship, against the US national team on August 12, and Iran on the next day. On August 14, Qatar will play against Chinese Taipei and the Philippines next day. Then they will play against UAE and Chinaese Taipei B, South Korea and Japan on the following days.
