Lebanon flew to Manila for the tournament, which begins on August 1, in the hope of a reprieve from FIBA, but this was not the case due to a "serious infringement of the FIBA general statutes and all principles under which the Olympic sports movement is founded".

The decision to ban the nation from competing was made on July 11, with FIBA citing the federation's failure to put its internal affairs in order within a deadline as the main cause.

"The governance issues affecting basketball in Lebanon are much deeper and much more serious than the mere absence of proper appeal and disciplinary regulations within your statutes," read a statement.

"Despite your attempts and those of the FIBA Asia secretary general within the past few days to find solutions to these issues, the situation remains highly unstable."


FIBA Asia has confirmed that the tournament will take place with one less team, and no other team will take the place of Lebanon in Group B.

The recent development will come as a big boost for the Philippine squad as it aims to secure one of the three slots to the FIBA World Cup, taking place in Spain next year, on offer at their home tournament as Lebanon was considered to be one of the favourites.

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