Basketball Africa League

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Basketball Africa League
File:Basketball Africa League.svg
Organising bodyNBA
FIBA
FoundedFebruary 2019; 5 years ago (2019-02)
First season2021
Country
List
ConfederationFIBA Africa
Divisions2
Number of teams12
Current championsTunisia US Monastir
(1st title)
Most championshipsTunisia US Monastir
Egypt Zamalek (1 title)
PresidentAmadou Gallo Fall
TV partners
WebsitetheBAL.com
2022 BAL season

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]

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 (2009–2017), 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

Each BAL season consists of twelve teams. In the regular season, the twelve teams are divided into two conferences, in which they play five games each. The four highest-placed teams of each conference advance to the playoffs, which 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 must be from an other African country.[14]

BAL Elevate program

Ahead of the 2022 season, the BAL launched the BAL Elevate program in cooperation with the NBA Academy Africa. The program places a player from the academy in one of the team's rosters. Players from the same country as a BAL team are automatically assigned to a team, while remaining players are selected from a pool. Elevate players do not share in the prize money that is awarded from the competition, to preserve their amateur status.[15]

Teams

These are the 12 teams for the 2022 BAL season:

Conference Team City, Country National league National titles Founded BAL appearance
Sahara Senegal DUC Dakar Dakar, Senegal Nationale 1 5 1956 Debut
Mozambique Ferroviário da Beira Beira, Mozambique Liga Moçambicana de Basquetebol 3 1924 Debut
Guinea SLAC Conakry, Guinea Ligue 1 6 2004 Debut
Rwanda REG Kigali, Rwanda National Basketball League 2 2016 Debut
Morocco AS Salé Salé, Morocco Division Excellence 8 1928 2nd
Tunisia US Monastir Monastir, Tunisia Championnat National A 7 1923 2nd
Nile Cameroon FAP Yaoundé, Cameroon Elite Messieurs 2 1972 2nd
Angola Petro de Luanda Luanda, Angola Angolan Basketball League 14 1980 2nd
Egypt Zamalek Cairo, Egypt Egyptian Super League 18 1911 2nd
South Sudan Cobra Sport Juba, South Sudan South Sudanese National League 2 2017 Debut
Democratic Republic of the Congo Espoir Fukash Kinshasa, DR Congo Ligue Provinciale du Kinshasa 1 2019 Debut
South Africa Cape Town Tigers Cape Town, South Africa South African Championship 1 2019 Debut

Champions

See also: List of BAL finals
Edition Year Hosts Champions Score and Venue Runners-up Third place Score and Venue Fourth place No. of teams
1 2021 Rwanda
Kigali 		Egypt
Zamalek 		76–63
Kigali Arena, Kigali 		Tunisia
US Monastir 		Angola
Petro de Luanda 		97–68
Kigali Arena, Kigali 		Rwanda
Patriots 		12
2 2022 Rwanda
Kigali 		Tunisia
US Monastir 		83–72
BK Arena, Kigali 		Angola
Petro de Luanda 		Egypt
Zamalek 		97–74
BK Arena, Kigali 		Cameroon
FAP

Performance by Club

Team Winners Runners-up Years won Years runners-up
Tunisia US Monastir 1 1 2022 2021
Egypt Zamalek 1 — 2021
Angola Petro de Luanda — 1 2022

All-time participants

Map of countries, teams from which have played in the main tournament and qualifying rounds of the Basketball Africa League.
  Not represented
  FIBA member country that has been represented in the regular season
  FIBA member country that has been represented in the qualifying rounds

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
GS Group phase
TBD To be determined
Team 21 22 23 Total
seasons 		Highest
finish
Algeria GS Pétroliers GS – – 1 Group phase
Angola Petro de Luanda 3rd 2nd • 2 Runners-up
Cameroon FAP QF 4th 2 Fourth place
Democratic Republic of the Congo Espoir Fukash – GS – 1 Group phase
Egypt Al Ahly – – •
Egypt Zamalek 1st 3rd – 2 Champions
Guinea SLAC – QF 1 Quarterfinalist
Madagascar GNBC GS – – 1 Group phase
Mali AS Police GS – – 1 Group phase
Morocco AS Salé QF QF 2 Quarter-finalist
Mozambique Ferroviário da Beira – GS 1 Group phase
Mozambique Ferroviário de Maputo QF – – 1 Quarter-finalist
Nigeria Rivers Hoopers GS – 1 Group phase
South Africa Cape Town Tigers – QF 1 Quarterfinalist
Rwanda Patriots 4th – – 1 Fourth place
Rwanda REG – QF • 2 Quarterfinalist
Senegal AS Douanes QF – • 2 Quarter-finalist
Senegal DUC – GS – 1 Group stage
South Sudan Cobra Sport – GS 1 Group phase
Tunisia US Monastir 2nd 1st • 2 Champions

Sponsorship and partnerships

The BAL is sponsored by multiple multinational organisations, including:

Media coverage

The BAL games are broadcastin as many as 215 countries in 14 languages.[18] All BAL games are broadcast by:[19]

Location Broadcaster
African Union Africa ESPN Africa
Visionview.tv (online)
Canal+ Afrique
Voice of Africa Radio
 Canada NBATV Canada
TSN
China China Tencent Sports
Middle East OnTime Sports
 Egypt Zamalek TV (Zamalek games only)[20]
 Morocco Arryadia (AS Salé games only)
 Tunisia El Watania 2 (US Monastir games only)
 United States ESPN+
NBA TV
Voice of America
International beIN Sports
theBAL.com (online)

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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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 teams to field one NBA Academy player each in 2022". ESPN.com. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  16. ^ "BAL announces new energy sponsor". The African Mirror. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  17. ^ "VISIT RWANDA AND RWANDAIR JOIN BAL AS OFFICIAL PARTNERS". www.thebal.com. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Basketball Africa League announces roster of broadcast partners for expanded 2022 season tipping off tomorrow". NBA.com: NBA Communications. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  19. ^ "Basketball Africa League unveils international broadcast partners". sportbusiness.com. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  20. ^ "قناة الزمالك تعلن اذاعة مباريات بطولة افريقيا BAL تحت رعاية NBA | اوان مصر" (in Arabic). 7 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.

External links

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