The close links between sport and national identity are all too evident in many countries today.

Democrats and demagogues alike have at times used sport to plunder and unite their people.

In Sporting Chances, Farayi Mungazi explores the power of basketball to create a national identity in newly independent South Sudan, as well as give its people a sense of dignity and pride.

(Image: Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng (9), of Sudan. Credit: Associated Press) Show less