providing the fact that

Hi, everybody.
I'd like to ask a question.

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We welcome competition providing the fact that we are prepared for it.
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Does providing that fact that mean "since" or "if"?
I looked up providing in a dictionary, then I found out providing means 'if' or 'only if'.
But in the sentence above, providing the fact that could be replaced by since, I guess.

If you had to choose beween if and since, what would you?

You should choose "if".

"providing the fact that" cannot be replaced by 'since'. "providing the fact that" means '(only) if' or 'as long as'.

'given that fact that' means 'since', ‘because'.

Thank you for your kind explanation.
It helped a lot.
Have a nice day!!!:-D