The 2025 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 5, will be the 5th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season will begin on 5 April and end on 14 June 2024 with the final.[1] The playoffs and finals will be held in Pretoria, South Africa, for the first time.[2]
| 2025 BAL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Basketball Africa League |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | 4 April – 25 May 2024 (group phase) 6 – 14 June 2025 (playoffs) |
| Number of games | 48 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
Petro de Luanda are the defending champions, having won the previous season. The winners will earn the right to play in the 2025 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Venues
editThe Moroccan Royal Basketball Federation (FRMBB) announced on 12 November 2024 that Rabat would be one of the host cities of the first phase of the 2025 season.[3]
On 21 November 2024, the BAL announced that the group phase would be hosted in three countries, as the Nile Conference is hosted at the Salle Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, Morocco, the Sahara Conference in Dakar Arena, Dakar, Senegal, and the Kalahari Conference in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.[1] The playoffs and final will be played in the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.[1]
Qualification
editThe number of directly qualified teams changed from the previous four seasons, as the BAL now allocated eight direct slots to designated leagues and markets. As such, the champions of Morocco were given a direct spot in the tournament, while only five[2] teams would qualify through the Road to BAL.[4] FIBA Africa had reported that the champions of South Africa received direct qualification,[5] however, on 21 November 2025, the BAL announced that no direct spot was allocated.[2]
Teams
editThe defending champions Petro de Luanda were the first team to qualify, as they won the 2023–24 Angolan Basketball League on 12 May 2024 to qualify for a record-extending fifth season in a row.[6] Al Ittihad Alexandria will make its debut, becoming the third Egyptian club to play in the league and it is the greatest Egyptian basketball club in history.[7] ASCVD became the third Senegalese club to qualify following their Nationale 1 title.[8]
Method of qualification and statistics
edit| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | App. | Previous year | Cons. | Best performance | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Petro de Luanda
|
2023–24 Angolan Basketball League champions | 12 May 2024 | 5th | 2024 | 5 | Champions (2024) | [6] |
 Al Ittihad Alexandria
|
2023–24 Egyptian Basketball Premier League champions | 13 June 2024 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [7] |
 US Monastir
|
2023–24 Championnat Pro A champions | 27 June 2024 | 5th | 2024 | 5 | Champions (2022) | [9] |
 ASCVD
|
2024 Nationale 1 champions | 27 June 2024 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [8] |
 APR
|
2024 RBL season champions | 23 September 2024 | 2nd | 2024 | 2 | Group stage (2024) | [10] |
 Rivers Hoopers
|
2024 NBBF Premier League champions | 19 November 2024 | 3rd | 2024 | 2 | Third Place (2024) | [11] |
 FUS Rabat
|
2023–24 Division Excellence champions | 10 July 2024 | 2nd | 2024 | 2 | Quarterfinalist (2024) | [12] |
 Al Ahli Tripoli
|
Road to BAL West Division winners | 9 November 2024 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [13] |
 Stade Malien
|
Road to BAL West Division runners-up | 9 November 2024 | 2nd | — | 2 | Third Place (2023) | [14] |
 Kriol Star
|
Road to BAL East Division finalist | 2 December 2024 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [15] |
 Nairobi City Thunder
|
Road to BAL East Division finalist | 2 December 2024 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [16] |
 TBD
|
Road to BAL participant |
Personnel
edit| Team | Head coach | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| Al Ahli Tripoli | Fouad Chakra
|
|
| Al Ittihad Alexandria | Ahmed Omar
|
Ahmed El Sabbagh
|
| ASCVD | Libasse Faye
|
|
| APR | ||
| FUS Rabat | ||
| Kriol Star |  Hugo Salgado
|
Joel Almeida
|
| Nairobi City Thunder |  Brad Ibs
|
Tylor Ongwae
|
| Petro de Luanda |  Sergio Valdeolmillos
|
Childe Dundão
|
| Rivers Hoopers | Ogoh Odaudu
|
|
| Stade Malien | Boubacar Kanouté
|
|
| US Monastir | Mohamed Kerdani
|
Mokhtar Ghyaza
|
Pre-season
editAs the champions of the 2024 BAL season, Petro de Luanda played in the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup in September 2024. They finished in fifth place.[17]
Schedule
editThe full schedule for the season was officially released on 21 November 2024.[1]
| Phase | Round | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifying rounds | First Round | 8 October – 1 November 2024 |
| Elite 16 | 5 November – 3 December 2025 | |
| Group phase | Nile Conference | 5 – 13 April 2025 |
| Sahara Conference | 26 April – 5 May 2025 | |
| Kalahari Conference | 17 – 25 May 2025 | |
| Seeding games | 6 –14 June 2025 | |
| Playoffs | Quarter-finals | |
| Semi-finals | ||
| Final and third place | ||
Group phase
editThe group phase is played between 5 April and 25 May 2024. The twelve teams of the group phase are allocated into three conferences.
Tiebreakers
editThe ranking of teams in the regular season was determined as follows:[18][19]
- Win-loss record;
- Head-to-head record;
- Point differential in the games between the respective teams;
- Number of points scored in the games between the respective teams;
- Average point differential in all games against other teams in the Conference;
- Average number of points scored in all games played against other teams in the Conference;
- Drawing.
Nile Conference
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | FUS | BBB | CCC | DDD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FUS Rabat (H)
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to playoffs | — | ||||
| 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 3 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Possibly advance to the playoffs | — | ||||
| 4 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Sahara Conference
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | AVD | BBB | CCC | DDD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ASCVD (H)
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to playoffs | — | ||||
| 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 3 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Possibly advance to the playoffs | — | ||||
| 4 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Kalahari Conference
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | APR | BBB | CCC | DDD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | APR
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to playoffs | — | ||||
| 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 3 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Possibly advance to the playoffs | — | ||||
| 4 |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Ranking of third-placed teams
edit| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sahara |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | Kalahari |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | Nile |
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Playoffs
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "BAL To Tip Off Milestone Fifth Season on April 5 in Morocco". The BAL. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
- ^ a b c "Basketball Africa League and Rwanda Development Board announce multi-year extension to play BAL games in Kigali". NBA.com: NBA Communications. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
- ^ Essassi, Donya (13 November 2024). "Morocco to Host 2025 Basketball Africa League". Barlaman Today. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "Overview - FIBA Africa Champions Clubs ROAD TO B.A.L 2025 | FIBA.basketball". www.fiba.basketball. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Overview - FIBA Africa Champions Clubs ROAD TO B.A.L 2025 | FIBA.basketball". www.fiba.basketball. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ a b Da Silva, Juscelino (12 May 2024). "Jornal de Angola - Notícias - Basquetebol: Petro de Luanda revalida título e conquista o Penta". Jornal de Angola (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ a b "الاتحاد السكندري يهزم الأهلي ويتوج بلقب دوري السوبر لكرة السلة". btolat.com (in Arabic). 13 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Finale - N1 Masculin : L'ASCVD remporte son premier titre de champion de son histoire en dominant le DUC (65-45)" (in French). 28 July 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
- ^ "Basketball : Union sportive monastirienne championne de Tunisie". Réalités Online. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ Sikubwabo, Damas (23 September 2024). "PHOTOS: APR see off Patriots in Game 6, win record 15th championship". The New Times. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ^ "Rivers Hoopers are the 2024 Nigeria League champions". www.fiba.basketball. 19 November 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ "Overview - FIBA Africa Champions Clubs ROAD TO B.A.L 2025 | FIBA.basketball". www.fiba.basketball. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Murphy's 34 points send Al Ahli Tripoli to the 2025 BAL". www.fiba.basketball. 9 November 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ "Stade Malien outpace KSA, qualify for the 2025 BAL". www.fiba.basketball. 9 November 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ "Short-handed Kriol Star stun star-studded Urunani, qualify for BAL 2025". www.fiba.basketball. 2 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ "Nairobi City Thunder becomes first Kenyan team to qualify for the BAL". www.fiba.basketball. 2 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ "Classification games decided in the clutch: Drmic wins it for JackJumpers, Diabate for Luanda". www.fiba.basketball. 15 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
- ^ "What can happen on the last day of the 2023 Sahara Conference?". The BAL. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ "Who will clinch the last two tickets for the 2024 BAL Playoffs?". The BAL. Retrieved 12 May 2024.