2022 BAL season

The 2022 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season will be the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).[1] The season will begin on 2 March 2021 and will end with the final on 28 May 2021.[2][3] The regular season will be played in the Dakar Arena in Dakar and the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Cairo. The playoffs and finals will be played in the Kigali Arena in Kigali for a second year in a row.

2022 BAL season
Season2022
Teams12
Games played38
Dates5 March – 28 May 2021
← 2021
2023 →

Format

On 9 December 2021, the BAL announced a new format for the season, with an expansion of the number of total games to 38. The twelve qualified teams are divided over two conference of six teams, in which all teams play the other teams once. The top eight teams from both conferences advance to the playoffs, which remains a single-elimination tournament.[2]

Team allocation

On 13 October 2021, FIBA announced the 26 teams from 26 countries which participate in the qualification round.[4] Eventually, 8 teams withdrew from the qualifications.

  • 1st, 2nd, etc.: Place in the domestic competition
  • TH: Title holder
  • CW: Cup winner
  • QT: National qualification tournament
Regular season
ZamalekTH (1st) US Monastir (1st) DUC Dakar (1st) Petro de Luanda (1st)
Rivers Hoopers (1st) REG (1st)[Note RWA]
Second qualifying round
AS Salé (1st)
First qualifying round
WA Boufarik AS Police (1st) Prédio City Oilers (1st)
SLAC (1st) AOA (1st) ASPAC (1st) Nigelec
SOA (1st) Espoir Fukash (CW)[Note COD] FAP (1st) Malabo Kings (1st)
Tondema (1st) ASCUT (1st) Cobra Sport Hawassa City
Kurasini Heat (1st) New Star Cape Town Tigers (1st) Ferroviário da Beira (QT)
Roche-Bois Warriors Matero Magic Mercenaries[Note ZIM] Ulinzi Warriors (1st)
Brave Hearts (1st)
Notes
  1. ^
    DR Congo (COD): In FIBA's team list of 13 October, 2020 national champions ASB Mazembe was announced to be the Congolese representative. However, the Fédération de basketball du Congo (FEBACO) eventually decided to enter 2021 champions Espoir Fukash.[5]
  2. ^
    Rwanda (RWA): The national champions from Rwanda were given direct qualification, as the country will host the semi-finals and finals. Morocco's representative, AS Salé, has been dropped from the six countries which qualified directly and will enter the Elite 16 of the qualifying tournament.[6]
  3. ^
    Zimbabwe (ZIM): The representative team from Zimbabwe, Mercenaries pulled out before its games in Group F started.[7]

Qualification

The twelve teams for the inaugural BAL season had to qualify in their domestic competitions to be able to play in the league, similar to other FIBA-organised competitions. Six teams qualify directly as domestic champions; six winners of the qualifying tournaments qualify as well.

Direct qualification

According to BAL regulations, FIBA announced that the national champions of Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia are directly qualified for the regular season.

Qualified teams

On 22 May 2020, Petro de Luanda was announced as the first qualified team for the 2021 BAL season. The Angolan FAB had abandoned the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and awarded the team the place without naming it as champions.[8] Four teams made their debut in the competition. Cobra Sport became the first South Sudanese team to play in the BAL.

Team Home city Qualified as Qualified on Previous BAL seasons
Petro de Luanda Luanda, Angola Champions of the 2020–21 Angolan Basketball League 22 May 2020[8] 1 (2021)
US Monastir Monastir, Tunisia Champions of the 2020–21 Championnat National A 8 August 2020 1 (2021)
Zamalek Cairo, Egypt Champions of the 2020–21 Egyptian Basketball Super League 28 June 2021 1 (2021)
DUC Dakar Dakar, Senegal Champions of the 2021 Nationale 1 8 August 2021[9] Debut
REG Kigali, Rwanda Champions of the 2020–21 NBL Rwanda 30 October 2021[10] Debut
Rivers Hoopers Port Harcourt, Nigeria Champions of the 2020–21 NBBF Premier League 16 November 2021[11] 1 (2021)
Cobra Sport Juba, South Sudan Winners or runners-up of East Division 10 December 2021[12] Debut
Ferroviário da Beira Beira, Mozambique Winners or runners-up of East Division 10 December 2021[12] Debut
SLAC Conakry, Guinea Winners or runners-up of West Division 15 December 2021[13] Debut
FAP Yaoundé, Cameroon Winners or runners-up of West Division 15 December 2021[14] 1 (2021)
Cape Town Tigers / New Star
Bold: the team won the BAL championship in that year.

Schedule
Phase Round Draw date Games
Qualifying First round 13 October 2021 21–31 October 2021
Elite 16 20 November 2021 6–16 December 2021
Regular season Dakar TBD 5–15 March 2021
Cairo 9–19 April 2021
Playoffs Quarter-finals 21–28 May 2021
Semi-finals
Final and third place

Qualfiying tournaments
Main article: 2022 BAL qualification

The qualifying tournaments started on 21 October 2021, with 23 teams from 23 countries participating. Six teams qualified for the regular season.

Regular season

The regular season will begin on 5 March 2021 in the Dakar Arena in Dakar, where 15 games will be played. On 9 April to 19 April the regular season continues in Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Cairo. The eight best teams advance to the playoffs.

Playoffs

The playoffs will begin on 21 May and finish on 28 May with the Finals. All games will be played in a single-elimination format, and will be played at the Kigali Arena in Kigali.

References
  1. "NBA, FIBA launching 12-team league in Africa; Barack Obama to have hands-on role". USA TODAY.
  2. BAL, NBA-. "BASKETBALL AFRICA LEAGUE TO TIP OFF EXPANDED SECOND SEASON MARCH 5". NBA - BAL. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  3. "What next for the Basketball Africa League?". The New Times | Rwanda. 2021-06-06. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  4. "Draw results for second edition of Basketball Africa League Qualifiers confirmed". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  5. Ndour, Papa Lamine. "BAL : BC Espoir Fukash remplace BC Mazembe pour la RD Congo". Sport News Africa (in French). Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  6. "Rwandan champions to get automatic ticket to BAL 2022". The New Times Rwanda. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  7. "24 teams set to battle for six remaining tickets for second edition of Basketball Africa League". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  8. "Petro de Luanda earn right to represent Angola at Basketball Africa League 2020-21". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  9. "APS - Le DUC gagne le titre chez les messieurs". aps.sn. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  10. "Basketball: REG crowned national league champions". The New Times | Rwanda. 31 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  11. Saliu, Mohammed (18 November 2021). "Rivers Hoopers Knock Bulls to Claim Championship, BAL TIcket". Brila.net. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  12. "Ferroviario da Beira and Cobra Sport make history by booking tickets to Basketball Africa League 2022". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  13. "Guinea's SLAC stun AS Police in OT, qualify to Basketball Africa League". FIBA.basketball. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  14. "After F.A.P and SLAC which team will secure the last ticket to the BAL?". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
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