Sports in Somalia
The longest continuously serving national team captains of Somalia's two most popular sports, basketball and football, are Yusuf Qaafow and Hasan Babay respectively.
In 1931 governor Maurizio Rava created the Federazione Sportiva della Somalia, which organized competences of athletics, tennis and football and promoted the first sport activities among the young native population.
In 1933 the first Somali football championship was created, called Coppa Federazione Sportiva, with three teams ("Societa' Mogadiscio", "Marina" and "Milizia") from the capital.
In 1938 the football championship was won by the "Amaruini" team, made up mainly of local Somalis; in 1939 the winning team was the "Araba".In 1938 competitions of other sports, like swimming, basketball, athletics and cycling, were held: the boxing was practiced by Ballin Nur and Isac Barrachi, two Somalis champions with international fame.
The teams that played a Trust Territory of Somalia championship with the stadium inauguration were: "Lavori Publici", "Autoparco", "El Gab", "Sicurezza", "Somali Police FC" and "AS Mogadiscio".
In addition, several international footballers such as [Mohammed Ahamed Jama], Liban Abdi, Ayub Daud and Abdisalam Ibrahim play in European top leagues.
Joog, one of the most successful athletes from Somalia, won the 1500 m World Championship in 1987, running the fastest final 800 m of any 1,500 meter race in history.
Hussein Ahmed Salah, a Somalia-born former long-distance runner from Djibouti, won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Over his 200 games for the club's academy, he is seen as a future star in the eyes of football and someone to contest the greats, such as Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Abdihakem Abdirahman the Somali-American long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres, won Gold for this event at the US Olympic Trials in 2008.
In January 2013, national basketball team player Faisal Aden scored 59 points against the Rwanda squad.
[17][18] At the 2013 Open World Taekwondo Challenge Cup in Tongeren, Belgium, team members Faisal Jeylani Aweys and Mohamed Deq Abdulle took home a silver medal and fourth place, respectively.
The Somali Olympic Committee has devised a special support program to ensure continued success in future tournaments.
