Basketball Africa League expands with five teams, three new nations
By Rama Mohammed |
The 2024 BAL season will tip off on Saturday 9 March at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) has announced that five new teams and three new countries are among the 12 club teams from 12 African countries that will compete in the 2024 BAL season, which will tip off on Saturday, March 9 at SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.
The fourth BAL season will feature a record 48 games in Pretoria; Cairo, Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; and Kigali, Rwanda, marking the first BAL games in South Africa and the first time the league will play games in four different countries.
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The 12 teams have been divided into three conferences of four teams each. Seven of the teams have competed in the BAL before, two of which – Petro de Luanda (Angola) and US Monastir (Tunisia) – will be competing for a record fourth season. Five teams are making their BAL debut, including the first BAL teams from Burundi, Central African Republic and Libya.
Each conference will play a 12-game group phase during which each team will face the other three teams in its conference twice. New this season, the home team in each market will play on every gameday, including on the weekends. The inaugural Kalahari Conference group phase will take place from Saturday, March 9 – Sunday, March 17 at the SunBet Arena. The Nile Conference group phase will take place from Friday, April 19 – Saturday, April 27 at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo. The Sahara Conference group phase will take place from Saturday, May 4 – Sunday, May 12 at the Dakar Arena in Dakar. The top two teams from each conference and the top two third-place teams from across the three conferences will travel to BK Arena in Kigali for four seeding games followed by an eight-game, single-elimination Playoffs and Finals from Friday, May 24 – Saturday, June 1.
In the season opener, first-time BAL participant FUS Rabat Basketball (Morocco) will face Petro de Luanda at 5PM EAT In the second game, home team Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) will take on first-time BAL participant Dynamo Basketball Club (Burundi) at 8PM EAT. On the opening day of the Nile Conference, home team Al Ahly (Egypt) will begin its title defense against two-time BAL participant City Oilers (Uganda) at 8PM EAT.
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Champions from the national leagues in Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia earned their participation in the 2024 BAL season by winning their respective national leagues. The remaining six teams, which come from Burundi, Central African Republic, Libya, Morocco, South Africa and Uganda, secured their participation through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October to November 2023.
About the BAL
The Basketball Africa League (BAL), a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and NBA Africa, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that will tip off its fourth season in March 2024. Headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, the BAL builds on the foundation of club competitions FIBA Africa has organized across the continent and marks the NBA’s first collaboration to operate a league outside North America.
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