Featured image credit: Basketball Africa League
The fifth season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) will feature games in Morocco for the first time, while the finals will move from Rwanda to South Africa.
The season will begin in the Moroccan capital of Rabat at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex. The finals will take place at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria on June 14.
A total of 12 teams representing 12 African nations will compete in the 2025 BAL season. As well as Rabat and Pretoria, games will be played in the Senegalese capital of Dakar and Kigali, Rwanda.
The teams will be divided into three conferences of four teams, with each conference to play a 12-game group phase. The Kalahari Conference group phase is scheduled for April 5-13 in Rabat, while the Sahara Conference group phase will take place from April 26 to May 4 at the Dakar Arena.
The Nile Conference group phase will be held from May 17-25 at Kigali’s BK Arena. Eight teams will qualify for the playoffs in Pretoria, which will begin on June 6 and culminate with the finals on June 14.
Rabat replaces Cairo as a host venue for next year’s tournament. Kigali has a multi-year deal in place to host annual BAL games, including the playoffs and finals in 2024, 2026 and 2028.
BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall said: “We have seen tremendous growth over the BAL’s first four seasons in the level of on-court competition, attendance, and engagement from fans and partners in Africa and globally.
“Our milestone fifth season will build on that momentum and further showcase the level of talent and passion for basketball in Africa, including through the first BAL games in Morocco and the first BAL finals in South Africa.”
Anibal Manave, president of the Africa division of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which co-organises the BAL, added: “The Kalahari Conference marks another expansion of the BAL into a new country on our continent, and we are more than satisfied. Year after year, this competition grows, giving greater exposure to our sport and helping to elevate the level of basketball in Africa by making the league more and more competitive.”
The national league champions from Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia will automatically qualify for the BAL. The other five teams will qualify via the Road to the BAL tournaments.
The defending BAL champion is Angola’s Petro de Luanda.
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