Somali basketball makes competitive return after more than 35 years

Under the floodlights on a warm Mogadishu night on Saturday, Somali basketball made a historic return after more than 35 years in the cold .

Mogadishu Port’s Dekedda SC defeated Heegan SC 80-64 to win the 2026 General Daud Cup at Wiish Stadium.

The Dockers’ victory capped an eight-team tournament organised by the Somali Basketball Federation and provided a landmark moment for a sport rebuilding after years of disruption.

The federation said competitive basketball had not been played at Wiish Stadium - one of Somalia’s most important sporting venues - for decades.

Speaker of Somalia’s parliament Abdulkadir Mohamed Jama attended the final and presented the championship trophy to Dekedda SC after their victory.

Nighttime sporting

Also in attendance were Mohamed Abduqadir Ali, Minister of Youth and Sports, and Ambassador Mohamed Ali Nur, General Manager of Mogadishu Port, alongside officials involved in the tournament.

For the players and supporters inside the arena, the occasion was about more than the final score. It was the return of familiar nighttime sporting to Mogadishu - players competing under floodlights, supporters filling the stands and a major domestic trophy being decided on the court.

The tournament comes as the Somali Basketball Federation works to rebuild a sustainable domestic competition structure. According to the federation, organised domestic basketball had been largely absent for more than two years.

The final also carried an international flavour, with French and Kenyan officials among the referees overseeing the competition as Somalia works towards returning to continental and global basketball competition.

Rebuilding national team

The national team is also being rebuilt, with the federation seeking to attract Somali-born players from the diaspora and expand the pool of talent available to represent the country.

The revival of nighttime basketball was driven by Abdirahman “Koshin” Abditawab, secretary general of the Somali Basketball Federation, who worked with the federation’s president, officials and wider team to turn the idea of restoring evening games into a full tournament.

Clubs, referees, volunteers, security personnel, media teams and event partners all played roles in staging the competition.

The tournament unfolded against a backdrop of improving security in Mogadishu, creating space for supporters to return to an evening sporting event and for basketball to reclaim part of the city’s night-time life.

For a city that has spent years defined internationally by conflict and insecurity, the scene at Wiish Stadium offered a strikingly different picture: players competing for a national cup, fans watching from the stands and basketball taking centre stage after dark.