Danny Abboud, The Daily Star

BEIRUT - Businessman Pierre Kakhia is bidding to rescue Lebanese basketball from bad leadership, revitalize it and give it a lifeline after the international ban.

He recently announced his candidacy for any future election in the basketball governing body, expressing his willingness to help Lebanon qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, while concurrently reforming the local system.

The sports-minded Kakhia has all the credentials to underscore his worth to the local game, as he boasts strong international relations and is an influential man in Asian football.

The World Sport Group chief had a previous stint in Lebanese basketball when he presided over the governing body 2007-10. That experience ended on a sour note, however, with nine members resigning and toppling the federation just three months before the 2010 World Championship.

Kakhia, however, succeeded in clinching a wild card for Lebanon after they failed to qualify directly, and the savvy businessman is more focused than ever on making Lebanese basketball relevant again.

“I am more determined to make a return. What happened with me [in 2010] has pushed me to come back because it shows the quality of the federations that came after me and that are influenced by external powers, and who can topple the federation any time they want,” he told The Daily Star. “This trend should stop because it puts an end to the institutional work in the Lebanese sports, and becomes rather personal and politically motivated.”

“There’s only one positive from FIBA’s ban, which is we should ask ourselves: ‘Will we make the right adjustments to match the level of the game, or will it be at the level of other people?’ It is a chance for Lebanon to find a radical solution.”

Kakhia slammed the current federation for the lack of transparency in its supervision for the top league, calling for clubs who are investing millions of dollars to help shape the league’s fate.

“There is always a feeling for some clubs that they are being manipulated. There is huge spending in the game and we need as well to improve our management if we want to keep up as a basketball powerhouse in Asia.

“Lebanese basketball has great potential to succeed and sadly the real problem lies in the current system which is old-fashioned, although we have reached a certain level of professionalism with the players and coaches,” he said. “This game is a national one which made people happy once, and we have to find protection for it.”

Kakhia also lamented the lost chance to qualify for the fourth-successive time to the World Championships, accusing the federation of contradicting Lebanon’s interests when they raised the issue to the FIBA.

“In 2010 they toppled the federation and I could have simply raised the issue with FIBA but it was politically motivated, my conscience didn’t allow me to do that and prevent Lebanon from participating on a world stage.

“Unfortunately the current president [Robert Abu Abdallah] went personally to complain at FIBA and what was the result? Losing a great chance to confirm our status as a traditional powerhouse in the world.”

“Now that it happened I am personally looking to work with a group of active people to revitalize the game.

“I have big goals to achieve in my head, like hosting the 2015 FIBA ASIA Championship if the security situation in the country [allows] ... as well as building a strong team to qualify for the Olympics, because technically we are among the best three teams in Asia and with a little push we could earn the qualification spot.

He added: “We should set a three-year plan for the league and after that you can determine what went right or wrong and work on improve it. The infrastructure of the game also needs to be developed, because it is battered right now, starting from the rehabilitation of the stadiums and this needs the help of the government. Additionally improving the level of the referees and protecting them.”

“Talking also about the workload of the federation, you can see we have a gap. ... Marketing-wise, we are miles behind,” Kakhia said.