{"id":65351,"date":"2026-08-03T14:16:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T14:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/?p=65351"},"modified":"2026-08-03T12:34:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:34:55","slug":"president-kiir-expresses-pride-in-national-basketball-teams-impressive-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/?p=65351","title":{"rendered":"President Kiir Expresses Pride in National Basketball Team\u2019s Impressive Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\np.has-drop-cap:first-letter {\n    font-size: 3.2em !important;\n    font-weight: 700 !important;\n    float: left !important;\n    line-height: 0.85 !important;\n    margin-right: 10px !important;\n    margin-top: 3px !important;\n    margin-bottom: -2px !important;\n    color: #DC2626 !important;\n    font-family: \"Georgia\", \"Times New Roman\", serif !important;\n    text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.1) !important;\n}\n<\/style>\n<figure style=\"margin:0 0 25px 0;padding:0;\">\n    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/op.gov.ss\/storage\/news\/631165be-62e6-438a-ba67-660d6f411ad3.webp\" alt=\"President Kiir Expresses Pride in National Basketball Team\u2019s Impressive Performance - South Sudan - Office of the President\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:800px;border-radius:8px;display:block;margin:0 auto;\" \/>\n    <figcaption style=\"text-align:center;color:#6B7280;font-size:13px;margin-top:8px;font-style:italic;\">President Kiir Expresses Pride in National Basketball Team\u2019s Impressive Performance \u2014 Official image from the Office of the President, Republic of South Sudan, as published via op.gov.ss and republished by Juba Global News Network, your trusted source for news from South Sudan and the East African region.<\/figcaption>\n    <\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">JUBA, August 3, 2026 &mdash; The President of the Republic His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit has praised the country&#8217;s national basketball teams for their outstanding performances on the international stage, describing their achievements as a source of national pride and a powerful symbol of the South Sudan&#8217;s growing reputation around the world.<\/p>\r\n<p><span>The President spoke on Monday while receiving a briefing from the President of the South Sudan Basketball Federation, Luol Deng Ajou, at the State House in Juba. During the meeting, President Kiir reaffirmed his administration&rsquo;s full support for the development of basketball in South Sudan, commending the federation for its commitment to nurturing young talent and promoting the country&#8217;s image abroad.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>Luol Deng briefed the President on the progress of both the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s national teams, highlighting recent successes and upcoming international competitions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>He said the women&#8217;s national basketball team is preparing to travel to Mexico for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where eight nations will compete for a place at the Olympic Games.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>&#8220;The women&#8217;s team has been preparing well and is ready to represent South Sudan with determination and pride,&#8221; Luol said.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>He also updated President Kiir on the men&#8217;s national team&#8217;s impressive campaign in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>&#8220;Our men&#8217;s team is currently enjoying a strong run. We stand at four wins and two losses and are second in our group. We are now heading into the final phase of qualification, which consists of six games, three in August and three in February,&#8221; Luol explained.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>He added that President Kiir conveyed his best wishes to the players and coaching staff as they continue their quest to qualify for the next stage of international competition.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>As part of the meeting, Luol presented President Kiir with a bronze medal won by South Sudan&#8217;s Under-18 boys&#8217; team during the FIBA Zone 5 Championship held in Egypt. The team finished third in the tournament, marking a significant milestone as it was the country&#8217;s first-ever assembled Under-18 national basketball squad.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>Luol said the President was delighted by the achievement, noting that every success by South Sudan&#8217;s basketball teams brings pride and hope to the nation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>&#8220;The President is very proud whenever he receives good news about our teams winning and raising the South Sudan flag on the international stage,&#8221; Luol said. &#8220;Our basketball teams have elevated the country&#8217;s profile globally and have given people around the world a reason to speak positively about South Sudan.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span>South Sudan has emerged as one of Africa&#8217;s fastest-rising basketball nations in recent years, with its national teams earning recognition for their competitive performances and inspiring a new generation of young athletes across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h3>\n\n\n<p><em>This article is based on official sources. Additional context and analysis provided by Juba Global News Network.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><em>#JubaGlobal<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin:30px 0;padding:20px;background:#f8f9fa;border-radius:8px;text-align:center\">\n    <p style=\"margin:0 0 15px;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Stay Connected with Juba Global News Network<\/p><div style=\"margin:20px 0; text-align:center;\">\n        <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n             style=\"display:block\"\n             data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9174884571307423\"\n             data-ad-slot=\"XXXXXXXXXX\"\n             data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n             data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n        <script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script>\n    <\/div>\n    <div style=\"display:flex;gap:12px;justify-content:center;flex-wrap:wrap\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@jubaglobal?sub_confirmation=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" style=\"display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:8px;padding:12px 24px;background:#FF0000;color:#fff;text-decoration:none;border-radius:6px;font-weight:600;font-size:14px\">\u25b6 Subscribe on YouTube<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jubaglobal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" style=\"display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:8px;padding:12px 24px;background:#1877F2;color:#fff;text-decoration:none;border-radius:6px;font-weight:600;font-size:14px\">\ud83d\udc4d Follow on Facebook<\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Kiir Expresses Pride in National Basketball Team\u2019s Impressive Performance \u2014 Official image from the Office of the President, Republic of South Sudan, as published via op.gov.ss and republished by&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-office-of-president"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65353,"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65351\/revisions\/65353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}