A joint training camp for basketball is being held in Dubai, featuring the national teams of the UAE, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. This camp is part of the preparation for the Jordanian and Saudi teams for the World Cup qualifying window. Both teams are holding a training camp in Dubai, where they will face the UAE team, which recently won the silver medal at the Dubai International Tournament.
Yesterday, Jordan faced Saudi Arabia in the opening match. Today, the UAE national team («Al-Abiyad») will begin its campaign in the «Dubai Combined Camp» with a match against Jordan at the Al Ahli Club's hall, in the absence of five key players.
The national teams' director, Dr. Muner Ben Al-Habib, confirmed that the UAE national basketball team will start its campaign today at 10:30 PM against Jordan. He stated that the team began its camp on Friday with a squad of 16 players. Ahead of the match against Jordan, the team will be missing five influential players due to injuries and absences. This includes key players Mamadou N'Diaye and Ahmed Abdel-Latif, as well as wingers Mahmoud Sawim and Rashed Zaabi. Additionally, Al-Wasl's player Abdulaziz Khalifa is absent due to commitments in Cairo.
Ben Al-Habib added that the matches against Jordan and Saudi Arabia provide an additional opportunity for players who did not get much playing time in the Dubai International Tournament to gain more minutes on the court. Among them is team captain Jassim Mohammed, who recently returned from injury. The team also extended invitations to new players, including Al-Wahda's Khaled Rashed.
He continued that the recent performance levels of the team reflect the development of our players' skills and the experience they have gained from past participations. This has made our national team a significant preparation hub for teams competing for World Cup qualification spots.
Through this camp, we aim to achieve maximum technical benefit within our preparation plan for the May event, where we will defend the gold medal at the Gulf Games, which the team won in Qatar in 2022.
The UAE squad for the match against Jordan includes: Qais Omar, Omar Al-Amiri, Hamed Abdel-Latif, Hussein Khalid (Shabab Al-Ahli), Saif Hamed (Al-Wasl), Hassan Abdullah, Hamed Mohammed, Hussein Al-Sheiba (Al-Nasr), Jassim Mohammed (Al-Bataeh), De Marco Dickerson, Mohammed Asad (Al-Sharjah), Khaled Rashed (Al-Wahda).
