Tomás Yelmini
Latin America has contributed to the best leagues in the world, including the NBA, with brilliant basketball players. Basketball is very important in the region, and in this case JefeBet will focus on the current situation of Peru Professional Basketball, and everything you need to know about a sport that has suffered hard blows in the Inca country in recent years.
How is it like at present? How can we imagine it in the future? Here is an analysis of basketball in Peru.
All you Need to Know about Peru Professional Basketball
Which is the professional basketball league in Peru?
Today, there is none. It is a pity, especially because between 2011 and 2019 a National Basketball League was played in Peru and it had the participation of 16 teams. Though, that is a thing of the past. Currently, there is no national league, let alone a professional league.
Does this mean that there is no basketball activity in Peru? Of course not! There are thousands of lovers of this sport in this country, and its burning flame never extinguishes thanks to the passion fans have for it. Thus, there are now district competitions, with the Lima Metropolitan League being the most important one.
In Peru, basketball is completely amateur, so all projects are very short term. There is no work structure proposed to us by the Peruvian Basketball Federation (FPDB), or anywhere else. There is no structured or concrete work plan that can have long-term durability.
Christopher Nunura Dikudt, basquetbolista que juega la Liga de Lima con el Club Palcor en exclusiva para JefeBet
In this sense, the closest thing to a national competition can be found in the Crisol Cup, a competition that has already been held for three editions and that is completely private: that is, it has nothing to do with the FPDB.
Three clubs from Lima, two from Arequipa and one from Puno will compete in that hexagonal. The competition is based on two groups of three teams each, and everyone plays against everyone else.
The winning team gets two points, while the losing team gets one point. At the end of the first round, the team with the most points in each zone qualifies for the semifinals of the tournament and will await its rivals, who will be drawn from the second and third place teams in each group.
The losers of the semifinals will meet in a single match to define the 3rd and 4th place, while the grand final is also a single match. It is all or nothing!
What is the current situation of basketball in Peru?
That a country with such a rich sports tradition should have only one hexagonal as the top basketball competition at the national level sounds not good enough, but that’s the harsh reality since the dissolution of the National Basketball League.
But the situation gets even more critical, in 2018,the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) suspended the FPDB – a fact that, for example, prevented Peru from fielding a team in its own Pan American Games in Lima 2019. And in 2021, it directly disaffiliated it..
There are glimpses of hope that Peruvian basketball will at least return to what it once was: in the midst of a process of refoundation, the FPDB has just been recognized again by the Peruvian Institute of Sport (IPD), a fact that guarantees its representation at the national level by having the legitimacy of the National Registry of Sport (RENADE) of that country.
Now, Peru’s basketball needs to return to the international level, which is granted, of course, by FIBA. Among other things, what the international authorities require is that the statutes of the new federation be adjusted according to its own Manual.
So, is the door open for Peru’s basketball to be recognized by FIBA in 2023? Nunura Dikudt prefers not to take any risks: “The outlook is so uncertain that I could not say whether next year there will be any news. Everything is very changeable,” described the basketball player.
Undoubtedly, this is an unfair situation for a country that had its first basketball association in 1926, and which was recognized by FIBA since that year. In addition, Peru’s basketball competed in three Olympic Games and whch has had outstanding performances in South American championships.
It is a complex situation, but fortunately, everything is set to change soon, so we invite you to follow us on our social networks and at JefeBet to find out how the story evolves.
