“The youth have re-liberated South Sudan again from tribalism and division,” Manyang said.
With tears of joy, senior presidential adviser Kuol Manyang Juuk declared that the team’s success has reunited the country. “We gathered here to welcome the basketball team as the country, not a tribe,” said 25-year-old Aman Akech, wrapped in the national flag. The slow recovery from war continues with bursts of politically motivated ethnic violence.īut basketball dreams have brought South Sudanese together, fans said. Two years after independence, South Sudan fought a civil war that left nearly 400,000 people dead and more than 4 million displaced. The International Olympic Committee made the country’s Olympic committee a full member in 2015. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of conflict and sent its first athlete, a marathoner, to the 2012 London Olympics as an independent athlete competing under the Olympic flag. Upon arriving in Juba, team captain Kuany Kuany led a chant: “Where are we going?” he yelled. South Sudan, ranked 62nd in the world, is the lowest-ranked men’s team to qualify for an Olympics since at least 2004, according to the sport’s governing body. The government called the Olympic qualification a “remarkable achievement.”Įarlier in the week outside the Juba International Airport for the team’s arrival, fan Anger Aquin Awan said “they have registered our names in history.” The players and staff met Friday with South Sudan President Salva Kiir, who expressed his pride for their accomplishment. Thousands of fans, some wrapped in the national flag, blew horns and flooded the streets of the capital this week to welcome the team home.Ĭhol David, a 22-year-old diehard fan, called it incredible and historic. South Sudan will play at the Paris Olympics as the automatic qualifier from Africa thanks to a 101-78 win over Angola a week ago at the basketball World Cup in the Philippines. The country, which gained its independence just 12 years ago, is still celebrating the men’s national team after its first-ever qualification for the Olympics.
JUBA, South Sudan > Basketball has united the South Sudanese.
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