Basketball Africa League

The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league.[1] The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League.[2] The league is a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and International Basketball Federation (FIBA) with sponsorship from Nike, Air Jordan and Pepsi.[3]

Basketball Africa League
Organising bodyNBA
FIBA
FoundedFebruary 2019 (2019-02)
First season2021
Country
List
ConfederationFIBA Africa
Divisions2
Number of teams12
Current champions Zamalek
(1st title)
Most championships Zamalek
(1 title)
PresidentAmadou Gallo Fall
TV partners
WebsitetheBAL.com
2022 BAL season

Its inaugural season started with the qualifying rounds in October 2019 and the regular season in May 2021. The competition replaces FIBA's Africa Basketball League as the continent's top-tier league.

BAL president, Amadou Gallo Fall, announced at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game Africa Luncheon in Chicago, that the season will tip off on 13 March.[4] At the event, Nike and Jordan unveiled the official jerseys for the twelve teams (six of the teams will be outfitted by Nike and the other six by Jordan). The BAL also launched the league's official website and social media accounts.[4]

The inaugural season was postponed on 3 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 29 March 2021, it was announced that the inaugural season would start on 16 May 2021, and would end on 30 May.

History
President of Rwanda Paul Kagame at a ceremony for the unveiling of the BAL logo at Kigali Arena, Kigali, Rwanda, 19 December 2019

On 16 February 2019 the National Basketball Association and FIBA announced plans to establish a continental professional basketball league.[5] During a press conference at the 2019 NBA All-Star weekend, NBA commissioner Adam Silver elaborated on plans to establish the league. He stated that the league will feature 12 teams after qualification tournaments in late 2019. The countries that could possibly host a team include; Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.[6][7] Silver also hinted at the involvement of former U.S. president Barack Obama in an unspecified role.[3] In May 2019, Amadou Gallo Fall was assigned by the NBA as the first president of the BAL.[8] In September 2019, BAL announced the venues and cities for the inaugural season, which included a Final Four played in Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.[9]

On 15 October 2019, the qualifying tournaments for the inaugural season began, with teams from 32 African countries participating.[10] On 3 March 2020, the BAL announced that it was postponing its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] A new date would not be settled until 29 March 2021, when the inaugural season was announced to start on 16 May 2021, in the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. The season was held in a bubble with limited people in the stands. On 30 May 2021, Zamalek from Egypt won the first-ever BAL championship after beating US Monastir in the inaugural Finals.[12]

On 27 July 2021, former President Barack Obama joined NBA Africa as a strategic partner. The former president of the United States (2008–2016), avid basketball player, will also have a minority stake.[13]

Qualification
Main article: BAL Qualifying Tournaments

Comparable to the UEFA Champions League in association football, the competition has qualifying rounds to determine which teams play in each season. National federations from African countries will each be given the opportunity to send one representing club, usually the national champions. In the BAL Qualifying Tournaments, teams play each other in groups for six remaining spots in the BAL regular season.

Six teams from six countries qualify directly for the regular season to make a total of twelve teams.

Format
Venues of the inaugural BAL season.

In its inaugural season, the BAL will consist of twelve teams. In the regular season, the twelve teams are divided into two conferences, in which they play five games each. The top three teams from each conference advance to the Super 6. In the Super 6, all teams play in a round-robin competition to determine the four teams that qualify for the final four. The final four is a single-elimination tournament which decides the BAL champion.

Player rules

Each club participating in the BAL regular season is restricted to having four foreign players only, which means it has to have at least 8 local players on its roster. Furthermore, two out of four foreign players have to be from an African country.[14]

Teams

These are the 12 teams for the 2022 BAL season:

Team City, Country National league National titles Founded BAL appearance
DUC Dakar Dakar, Senegal Nationale 1
5
1956
Debut
FAP Yaoundé, Cameroon Elite Messieurs
2
1972
2nd
Ferroviário da Beira Beira, Mozambique Liga Moçambicana de Basquetebol
3
1924
Debut
REG Kigali, Rwanda National Basketball League
2
2016
Debut
Petro de Luanda Luanda, Angola Angolan Basketball League
14
1980
2nd
Rivers Hoopers Port Harcourt, Nigeria Nigerian Premier League
4
2009
2nd
US Monastir Monastir, Tunisia Championnat National A
7
1923
2nd
Zamalek Cairo, Egypt Egyptian Super League
15
1911
2nd
Cobra Sport Juba, South Sudan –
Unknown
2017
Debut
SLAC Conakry, Guinea Ligue 1
6
Unknown
Debut
Espoir Fukash Kinshasa, DR Congo Ligue Provinciale du Kinshasa
1
2019
Debut
TBD

Champions
Edition Year Hosts Champions Score and Venue Runners-up Third place Score and Venue Fourth place No. of teams
1 2021 Kigali
Zamalek		 76–63
Kigali Arena, Kigali
US Monastir
Petro de Luanda		 97–68
Kigali Arena, Kigali
Patriots		 12

All-time participants

The following is a list of clubs who have played in the Basketball Africa League at any time since its formation in 2020 to the current season. A total of 19 teams from 16 countries have played in the BAL thus far.

1st Champions
2nd Runners-up
3rd Third place
4th Fourth place
QF Quarterfinalists
RS Regular season
TBD To be determined
Team 21 22 Total
seasons		 Highest
finish
GS Pétroliers RS – 1 Regular season
Petro de Luanda 3rd TBD 2 Third place
FAP QF TBD 2 Quarter-finalist
Espoir Fukash – TBD 1 To be played
Zamalek 1st TBD 2 Champions
SLAC – TBD 1 To be played
GNBC RS – 1 Regular season
AS Police RS – 1 Regular season
AS Salé QF – 1 Quarter-finalist
Ferroviário da Beira – TBD 1 To be played
Ferroviário de Maputo QF – 1 –
Rivers Hoopers RS TBD 2 Regular season
Patriots 4th – 1 Fourth place
REG – TBD 1 To be played
AS Douanes QF – 1 Quarter-finalist
DUC Dakar – TBD 1 To be played
Cobra Sport – TBD 1 To be played
US Monastir 2nd TBD 2 –

Sponsorship and partnerships

The BAL is sponsored by multiple multinational organisations, including:

Media coverage

All BAL games are broadcast by:[17]

References
  1. "NBA starting 12-team Africa league next year". ESPN.com. 16 February 2019.
  2. Conway, Tyler (16 February 2019). "NBA Announces Basketball Africa League to Start in 2020; Barack Obama Involved". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  3. Zillgitt, Jeff (17 December 2019). "NBA, FIBA launching 12-team league in Africa; Barack Obama to have hands-on role". USA Today. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  4. "FIBA Press Release – February 15, 2020: Basketball Africa League announces the 12 teams that will compete in inaugural season". us11.campaign-archive.com. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  5. Reynolds, Tim. "NBA, FIBA announce plans for pro league in Africa". NBA.com. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  6. "NBA, FIBA and President Obama partner to form Basketball Africa League". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  7. "NBA, FIBA bringing pro league to Africa". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  8. "NBA notes: Amadou Gallo Fall is named president of Basketball Africa League". Los Angeles Times. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  9. "NBA's Basketball Africa League Gets One Step Closer To Reality With Announcement Of Host Cities". Forbes. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  10. "African clubs to compete in qualifying tournaments for the BAL confirmed". FIBA Africa. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  11. "Basketball Africa League postpones start of inaugural season". NBA.com. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  12. "ZAMALEK ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE INAUGURAL BASKETBALL AFRICA LEAGUE". www.thebal.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  13. "Former President Barack Obama joins NBA Africa as strategic partner". www.nba.com. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  14. "BAL: Why the Basketball Africa League coming into sharper focus is important for sport". GiveMeSport. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  15. "BAL announces new energy sponsor". The African Mirror. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  16. "VISIT RWANDA AND RWANDAIR JOIN BAL AS OFFICIAL PARTNERS". www.thebal.com. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  17. "Basketball Africa League unveils international broadcast partners". sportbusiness.com. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
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