Afghanistan

FIBA ranking	77
Joined FIBA	1968
FIBA zone	FIBA Asia
National federation	Afghanistan National Basketball Federation
Coach	Mamo Rafiq
Asian Games
Appearances	2 (first in 2006)
Medals	None
South Asian Games
Appearances	1 (first in 2010)
Medals	Gold: 2010
Home Away
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd South Asian Games 1 0 0 South Asian Games 2010 Dhaka

The Afghanistan men's national basketball team (Persian: تیم ملی بسکتبال مردان افغانستان) is the men's national basketball team of Afghanistan and is controlled by the Afghanistan National Basketball Federation.^[1][2][3][4] Afghanistan joined FIBA and became a member of FIBA Asia in 1968. Afghanistan won the 2010 South Asian Games, becoming the first sports team to win gold in the nation's history.^[5]

Basketball was first played in Afghanistan in 1936. In 1966, the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee (ANOC) founded the first national basketball team after receiving challenges from India and Pakistan. Tom Gouttierre, an American Peace Corps volunteer and coach of the team at Habibia High School, became the first coach. Using detailed, confidential instructions from John Wooden, the Afghanistan team became the only other to run the famous UCLA zone press.^[6]

Although the international games were canceled, in 1969 Gouttierre returned on a Fulbright Fellowship and again became the Habibia coach, and in 1970 Bill Bradley of the New York Knicks tutored the team while visiting the country. That year China challenged the ANOC. Because of the lack of preparation time, Gouttierre decided that current and former Habibia players were the best choice for a second Afghanistan national team. Using the zone press, it defeated a much larger Chinese team in Parwan Province in the Afghanistan team's first international victory.^[6]

Afghanistan has failed to qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup, while as well as only entering in the qualification rounds only once in 2013 when they entered in the South Asian Basketball Association Qualifying Round. Afghanistan would defeat Nepal before losing to India and failing to qualify for the Asia Cup. This is their only appearance in FIBA Asia Cup qualification rounds to date.^{[citation needed]}

Afghanistan has made two brief appearance in the Asian Games in 2006 and 2010. Both times the men's national team would struggle for success and failing to qualify outside the first round in both years respectively. The 2010 edition would be marked as the last time Afghanistan has played any competitive men's national teams games.

Afghanistan would see their best success in international competition in the form of the 2010 edition of the South Asian Games. They would defeat India and claim gold in what has been their only appearance in the South Asian Games to date.^{[citation needed]}

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1936	Not a FIBA member
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968	Did not enter
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Total	0/21	0	0	0

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1950	Not a FIBA member
1954
1959
1963
1967
1970	Did not enter
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2019
2023
2027
Total	0/20	0	0	0

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1960	Not a FIBA member
1963
1965
1967
1969	Did not enter
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013	Did not qualify
2015	Did not enter
2017
2022
2025
Total	0/31	0	0	0

• 1970-2002 : Did not qualify
• 2006 : 13th
• 2010 : 13th
• 2014-2022 : Did not qualify

Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1987	Not part of SAOC until 2004
1991
1995
2010		?	?	?
2019	Left SAOC in 2016
Total	0/5	0	0	0

• South Asian Games
  • Gold Medal: 2010

Head Coach:* Mamo Rafiq – 2007-now

Assistant Coach: * Abdul Wasi Pazhman - 2010

Assistant Coach: * Leo Balayon - 2009

The following twelve players were named to the roster for the 2010 Asian Games.

Afghanistan men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G/F 3 Aaron Gholami 14 – (1996-01-11)January 11, 1996 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) Mölndal Basket G/F 4 Yousof Etemadi 32 – (1978-07-21)July 21, 1978 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Malibu Pirates F/C 5 Nafi Mashriqi 30 – (1979-12-12)December 12, 1979 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) NYC Thunder F 6 Qais Haider 23 – (1987-06-25)June 25, 1987 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Free agent G/F 7 Masseh Tahiry 21 – (1989-07-31)July 31, 1989 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Free agent G 8 Sayed Yussuf Ansary 21 – (1989-07-18)July 18, 1989 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Free agent F/C 9 Habib Kabir 23 – (1987-05-25)May 25, 1987 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Sacramento CC G 10 Abdullah Karimi 27 – (1982-12-21)December 21, 1982 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Free agent G/F 11 Haroun Arefi 23 – (1987-02-01)February 1, 1987 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Free agent G 12 Ali Noorzad 24 – (1985-11-21)November 21, 1985 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Free agent G 13 Safi Mojaddidi 23 – (1987-02-02)February 2, 1987 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Free agent G 14 Mohammad Soratgar 19 – (1991-05-06)May 6, 1991 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Free agent F 15 Sayed Amiri 22 – (1988-08-05)August 5, 1988 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Free agent	Head coach Mamo Rafiq Assistant coach(es) Abdul Wasi Pazhman Legend (C) Team captain (NP) Naturalized player Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 11 November 2010

• Afghanistan women's national basketball team

• Asia-basket - Afghanistan Men National Team
• Presentation on Facebook

• Afghanistan Basketball Team Youtube.com video