The 2025 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 5, will be the 5th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). It will be the first season in which the playoffs of the league will be held outside of Rwanda.[1]
| 2025 BAL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Basketball Africa League |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Number of teams | 12 |
Petro de Luanda will be 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.[2]
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 and South Africa were given a direct spot in the tournament, while only four teams qualified through the Road to BAL.[3]
Road to BAL teams
editThe following teams are eligible to play in the Road to BAL qualifying tournaments, based on their results in domestic leagues and championships. The final team composition is to be confirmed by FIBA. The Road to BAL will run from 10 October to December 2024.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6] ASCVD became the third Senegalese club to qualify following their Nationale 1 title.[7]
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) | [5] |
 Al Ittihad Alexandria
|
2023–24 Egyptian Basketball Premier League champions | 13 June 2024 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [6] |
 US Monastir
|
2023–24 Championnat Pro A champions | 27 June 2024 | 5th | 2024 | 5 | Champions (2022) | [8] |
 ASCVD
|
2024 Nationale 1 champions | 27 June 2024 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [7] |
 APR
|
2024 RBL season champions | 23 September 2024 | 2nd | 2024 | 2 | Group stage (2024) | [9] |
 Rivers Hoopers
|
2024 NBBF Premier League champions | 19 November 2024 | 3rd | 2024 | 2 | Third Place (2024) | [10] |
 FUS Rabat
|
2023–24 Division Excellence champions | 10 July 2024 | 2nd | 2024 | 2 | Quarterfinalist (2024) | [11] |
 MBB[a]
|
2024 South African National Basketball Championship winners | 26 August 2024 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [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] |
 TBD
|
Road to BAL East Division winners | ||||||
| TBD
|
Road to BAL East Division runners-up |
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 | ||
| MBB | ||
| 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.[15]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "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.
- ^ "Road to BAL 2025 - Meet the first candidates". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 22 August 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Classification games decided in the clutch: Drmic wins it for JackJumpers, Diabate for Luanda". www.fiba.basketball. 15 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.