Basketball Africa League

The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league scheduled to begin play in March, 2020.[1] The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, to similar to the formats of the UEFA Champions League and Africa Basketball League.[2] The league is a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA with sponsorship from Nike, Jordan Brand and Pepsi.[3]

Basketball Africa League
Organising bodyNational Basketball Association (NBA)
FIBA
Founded16 February 2019 (2019-02-16)
First season2020
Country
ConfederationFIBA Africa
Divisions2
Number of teams12
PresidentAmadou Gallo Fall
Websitehttps://www.thebal.com/
2020 BAL season

Its inaugural season started with qualifying rounds in October 2019 and the regular season in March 2020. 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 March 13.[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]

History

On February 16, 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. Stating the league will feature 12 teams after qualification tournaments late in 2019. Countries announced 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 the first president of the BAL by the NBA.[8] In September 2019, BAL announced the venues and cities for the inaugural season, which included a Final Four played in the 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 it was postponing its season due to the coronavirus pandemic.[11]

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 in two conference 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. Two out of four foreign players have to be from an African country as well.[12]

Teams

These are the 12 teams for the 2020 BAL season:

Team City, Country National league National titles Founded BAL appearance
AS Douanes Dakar, Senegal Nationale 1
9
1980
 Debut
AS Police Bamako, Mali Malian Division I
1
 Debut
AS Salé Salé, Morocco Division Excellence
7
1928
 Debut
FAP Yaoundé, Cameroon Elite Messieurs
0
 Debut
Ferroviário de Maputo Maputo, Mozambique Mozambican Division I
8
 Debut
GNBC Vakinankaratra, Madagascar Malagasy N1A
2
 Debut
GS Pétroliers Algiers, Algeria Algerian Basketball Championship
20
1921
 Debut
Patriots Kigali, Rwanda National Basketball League
4
2014
 Debut
Petro de Luanda Luanda, Angola Angolan Basketball League
13
1980
 Debut
Rivers Hoopers Port Harcourt, Nigeria Nigerian Premier League
3
2009
 Debut
US Monastir Monastir, Tunisia Championnat National A
4
1923
 Debut
Zamalek Giza, Egypt Super League
14
1911
 Debut
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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. Press, Tim Reynolds | The Associated. "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. "BAL: Why the Basketball Africa League coming into sharper focus is important for sport". GiveMeSport. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
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