BEIRUT (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Lebanon have narrowed their list of candidates to coach the national team to four names and expect to make an appointment next week.

Pierre Kakhia, the country’s basketball federation president, told FIBA.com on Friday: “We had a long meeting yesterday and couldn’t reach a final decision.

“We are in discussions with four different coaches and have not come to an agreement. We are very close, but still did not finalize one of the four.”

Kakhia did not say the names of the candidates, but when asked which countries they hail from, he said: “We have one from the (United) States, one from Australia, from Serbia and one more from another country near Serbia.”

Dragan Raca coached Lebanon last summer and steered them to a fourth-place finish at the FIBA Asia Championship.

Only the top three sides – Iran, China and Jordan – qualified for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

However in December, Lebanon received a wild card to play in this year’s 24-team tournament.

They have been drawn in Group D of the Preliminary Round along with Spain, France, Canada, New Zealand and Lithuania.

FIBA