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" BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The players stopped mid-game, shaking their heads in silence at the violent brawl erupting in the bleachers. Instead of breaking it up, heavily-armed soldiers across the court laughed and snapped cell phone pictures. Eventually riot police rushed in, swinging batons and tossing fans over benches and down stairs. The crowd roared with approval, and the game was back on. This is professional basketball in Lebanon, where American ball players are flocking for the money and the spotlight, despite the innumerable risks that come with living in the Middle East. With a civil war raging next door in Syria, sporadic political violence in Lebanese cities, a recent spate of kidnappings, and corrupt security forces, it may seem surprising that athletes would come here at all. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s heavy here,&amp;quot; says Andre Emmett, a former Texas Tech standout who&amp;#039;s the current league leader in scoring and one of the game&amp;#039;s biggest stars here. &amp;quot;I just gotta try to block it all out and focus on playing basketball.&amp;quot; The rewards are considerable, even for players like Emmett who have glimpsed the NBA. Basketball has replaced soccer as the most popular spectator sport in Lebanon, largely because fans are banned from attending matches after repeated outbreaks of sectarian bloodletting in the stands. And basketball clubs are willing to pay for it: The $300,000-plus annual salaries look even more attractive compared to the budget tightening of European and Asian clubs.  &amp;quot;The financial crisis has sent more foreign players here,&amp;quot; says Tamam Jaroudi, managing director of West Beirut&amp;#039;s al-Riyadi Club, where last week&amp;#039;s brawl took place. &amp;quot;They used to make good money in Europe and Iran, but those economies have really suffered. Plus playing here is tax-free.&amp;quot;     Mitchell Prothero    League officials admit that every club here loses money due to high operating costs. And that&amp;#039;s where politics collides with sports: Most teams here are funded through a mixed patronage system of corporate sponsors and sectarian political parties. The league is changing the schedule this year so the season will end before parliamentary elections in June. Above Riyadi&amp;#039;s court hang several portraits of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, whose assassination eight years ago was largely blamed on the Shia militant group Hezbollah. In the seaside town of Amchit, the club&amp;#039;s brand new 1,500-person fieldhouse is named after the current president of Lebanon. And first place team Sagesse has found its strong season overshadowed by a patronage battle between rival Christian political parties, one of which was a militia accused of war crimes during this country&amp;#039;s 15-year civil war. &amp;quot;Before the problems happened between Hezbollah and Hariri, we used to have a huge Shia following,&amp;quot; says Jaroudi, adding that Riyadi is making efforts to attract fans from across Lebanon&amp;#039;s deep sectarian divide. In a further indication of the politicized nature of sports, a report aired on Hezbollah&amp;#039;s television station just over a year ago suggested that several American players here were spies for Israel and should be deported. And Lebanon was due to host this summer&amp;#039;s FIBA Asia Championship, but the federation&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;doubts about the stability&amp;quot; here relocated it to the Philippines. For the most part, players can insulate themselves from Lebanon&amp;#039;s sectarian tensions. &amp;quot;My life here is pretty routine,&amp;quot; Emmett says. &amp;quot;I practice, go home and order pizza, watch some movies, and Skype with my friends and family.&amp;quot; For management, trying to insulate the sport itself from the incendiary world of Lebanese politics and the war in Syria is proving increasingly difficult. Last week the leader of Riyadi&amp;#039;s official fan club, Talal Mohamed, held a special meeting with fans ahead of a game between fierce rivals. &amp;quot;We need to make sure no one talks about politics or the situation in Syria during the game,&amp;quot; Talal says, adding that the meeting wasn&amp;#039;t to prevent rival fans from fighting. &amp;quot;That meeting was just for our fans.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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