The Cyprus Basketball Federation (CBF) ( Greek: Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Καλαθοοσφαίρισης (ΚΟΚ)) is the governing body for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

on the island of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

and is a division of the Cyprus Sport Organisation (ΚΟΑ-Κυπριακός Οργανισμός Αθλητισμού). It was established in 1966 and became a full member of

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

in 1974. It is responsible for representing

on the international stage and for running the national teams that represent Cyprus at all levels. Currently it runs: * Three national men's leagues: : OPAP Basket League : Division B1 : Division B2 * The yearly

Cypriot Basketball Cup The Cypriot Basketball Cup is an annual professional basketball national cup competition, organized by the Cyprus Basketball Federation since 1969. Format Starting in 2007, the Cypriot Cup competition's format changed to where only teams from th ...

(that employs a knockout format) * The yearly

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is us ...

(Champion vs Cup Winner match) * One national Women's League

History of Basketball in Cyprus

Cyprus has a total population of around 800,000 most of whom follow the sport of basketball. In terms of popularity and spectator following, basketball only comes second to

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. The history of basketball in Cyprus can be roughly categorized into 3 periods (1966 to 1974, 1974 to 1988 and 1988 to today). Up to and including 1974 the most successful teams on the island were Digenis Morphou and

PAEEK PAEEK ( el, ΠΑΕΕΚ; short for Ποδοσφαιρική Αθλητική Ένωση Επαρχίας Κερύνειας, ''Podosfairiki Athlitiki Enosi Eparxeias Kerynias'', translated as "Football and Sport Union of Kyrenia District", lite ...

. As a direct result of the Turkish invasion both teams were expelled from their home towns; an event which had obvious catastrophic consequences. The immediate aftermath of the invasion was a period of economic suffering for all aspects of society including sport and basketball itself. Investment in sport development, infrastructure and foreign expertise (players and coaches) became of secondary importance. However, the triumph of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in the

Eurobasket 1987 The 1987 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1987, was the 25th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Greece between 3 and 14 June 1987. Twelve national teams entered the e ...

tournament sparked a renewed interest in the sport which brought in young players and the beginnings of a much needed investment. Foreign players soon followed and new arenas were constructed to cover the thousands of fans flocking to the top division games. Until the early 80's most games were held on open courts with a tarmac floor and a wooden backboard. But by the end of the decade KOA (Cyprus Sports Authority) had invested in several modern indoor arenas. Stadiums were erected in every city and venues such as the Eleftheria" in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

, “Kition” in

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...

, AEL arena and Apollon stadium in

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

now meet modern international standards where

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an competition matches are regularly held. Except of the men's championship there is also a teenager's league (U-20). The teams that take part in the men's league also take part in the U-20 league. There is also women's championship with 6 teams, U-16 boys and girl's championship. Most of the teams also have basketball academies were young children go and learn the game. Basketball in Cyprus is an expanding sport. More and more people are coming close to the game and the interest form the press and fans is going rapidly.

National team

Leagues

Cyprus Basketball Division A

Ten teams have won the league so far: * AEL (13) *

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

(11) *

Achilleas Achilleas (Αχιλλέας Καϊμακλίου) is a Cypriot basketball club founded in 1943, nowadays running basketball, volleyball and table tennis divisions. It has been a part of the community in the suburb of Kaimakli in Nicosia. The c ...

(5) *

Keravnos Keravnos B.C. (Greek: Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Στροβόλου «Ο Κεραυνός»), also known as Keravnos Strovolou, is a professional basketball club based in Strovolos, Nicosia, Cyprus. It plays its home games in the ...

(5) *

Pezoporikos Pezoporikos Club Larnaca ( el, Πεζοπορικός Όμιλος Λάρνακας, ''Pezoporikos Omilos Larnakas'') was a Cypriot sports club based in Larnaca with football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1927, the football club ...

(4) * Digenis (3) *

(3) *

ENAD ENAD (Enosis Neon Agiou Dometiou, Union of Youth of Agios Dometios), (Greek: Ε.Ν.Α.Δ. Ένωσις Νέων Αγίου Δομετίου) is a first division basketball team based in the Agios Dometios district of Nicosia, Cyprus. It was foun ...

(2) * ETHA (2) *

AEK A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

(4)

Cups

Cypriot Basketball Cup

Eight teams have won the cup so far: *

(11) * AEL (9) *

(9) *

(7) *

(5) * ETHA (2) * Apollon (2) *

(1) *

Cypriot Basketball Super Cup

Nine teams have won the super cup so far: *

(9) * AEL (8) *

(4) *

(3) *

(1) * ETHA (1) * Apollon (1) *

(1) *

(1)

References

External links

Official website

Cyprus
at FIBA site • Basketball News Website in Cyprus
rebound.com.cy
{{National Members of the International Basketball Federation Sports organizations established in 1966 Basketball in Cyprus Basketball Federation Basketball governing bodies in Europe 1966 establishments in Cyprus