2024 BAL season | |
---|---|
League | Basketball Africa League |
Season | 2024 |
Dates | 9 March – 1 June 2024 [a] |
Number of games | 48 |
Number of teams | 12 |
The 2024 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 4, will be the 4th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 9 March 2024 and will finish with the final on 1 June 2024, which will be played in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda for a fourth consecutive season. [1]
This season the league was expanded to 48 games, and from two conferences to three conferences, as South Africa will host the inaugural Kalahari Conference. [2]
Al Ahly are the defending champions, having won the previous edition.
On 19 June 2023, the BAL and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) announced they agreed on a multi-year extension to their collaboration. Under the extension, it was agreed that the BK Arena in Kigali will host the playoffs and finals in the 2024, 2026 and 2028 seasons. [1]
On 5 January 2024, the host venues and schedule were announced. The SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, will be the fourth arena to host BAL games. [3]
The BAL expanded the total games in the season from 38 to 48. In the group phase, there will now be three conferences as the Kalahari Conference will be held in South Africa. The number of teams in the conferences is decreased to four, with all teams playing each other twice. The top two teams and the two best third-placed teams advance to the playoffs. Before the playoffs, the eight teams will play seeding teams to determine their opponents in the single-elimination playoffs. This was the second time the match-ups in the playoffs were determined on seeding, as this was last done in the inaugural season. [2]
The six directly qualified teams were the champions of the national leagues of six pre-selected countries. The other six team qualified through the Road to BAL.
|
|
The Road to BAL began on 3 October and ended on 26 November 2023. On 21 September 2023, FIBA announced the 20 teams that had registered to play in the first round, which is played in five groups. [4] The final phase of the West Division was organised in Yaoundé for a third time, and Johannesburg hosted the East Division finals once again. Chad was represented for the first time in tournament history.
Petro de Luanda were the first team to qualify, as they won the 2022–23 Angolan Basketball League on 19 April 2023. [5]
APR, Al Ahly Ly, Bangui Sporting Club, Dynamo and FUS Rabat will make their BAL debuts. Al Ahly Ly, Bangui Sporting Club and Dynamo are the first teams from Libya, the Central African Republic, and Burundi, respectively, to play in the BAL.
Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | BAL appearance | Previous appearance | Consecutive appearances | Previous best performance | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Petro de Luanda | 2022–23 Angolan League champions | 19 April 2023 | 4th | 2023 | 4 | Runners-up ( 2022) | [5] |
Al Ahly | 2022–23 Egyptian Premier League champions | 15 May 2023 | 2nd | 2023 | 2 | Champions ( 2023) | [6] |
US Monastir | 2022–23 Championnat Pro A champions | 27 May 2023 | 4th | 2023 | 4 | Champions ( 2022) | [7] |
APR | 2023 RBL season champions | 9 September 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [8] |
AS Douanes | 2023 Nationale 1 champions | 17 September 2023 | 3rd | 2023 | 2 | Runners-up ( 2023) | [9] |
Bangui Sporting Club | Road to BAL West Division champions | 4 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [10] |
FUS Rabat | Road to BAL West Division runners-up | 4 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [11] |
Al Ahly Ly [b] | Road to BAL West Division third place | 5 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [12] |
City Oilers | Road to BAL East Division runners-up | 25 November 2023 | 2nd | 2023 | 2 | Group phase ( 2023) | [13] |
Cape Town Tigers | Road to BAL East Division champions | 25 November 2023 | 3rd | 2023 | 3 | Quarterfinals ( 2022, 2023) | [14] |
Rivers Hoopers | 2023 NBBF Premier League champions | 25 November 2023 | 2nd | 2021 | 1 | Group phase ( 2021) | [15] |
Dynamo | Road to BAL East Division third place | 26 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [16] |
As of 26 November 2023.
Team | Head coach | Captain |
---|---|---|
Al Ahly | Augustí Julbe [17] | Seif Samir |
Al Ahly Ly | Ivan Jeremić [18] | Sofian Hamad [18] |
APR | Maz Trakh | Jean Jacques Nshobozwa |
AS Douanes | Pabi Guèye | Alkaly Ndour |
Bangui Sporting Club | François Enyengue [18] | Jimmy Djimrabaye [18] |
Cape Town Tigers | Mlungisi Ngwenya | Lebesa Selepe [19] |
City Oilers | Nesba Karim [20] | James Okello [21] |
Dynamo | Julien Chaignot [22] | Bryton Hobbs [19] |
FUS Rabat | Said El Bouzidi | Abdelhakim Zouita [23] |
Petro de Luanda | José Neto (Conference Stage) [24] [c] | Carlos Morais [23] |
Sergio Valdeolmillos (Playoffs) [25] [c] | ||
Rivers Hoopers | Ogoh Odaudu | |
US Monastir | Adel Tlatli [26] |
Each BAL team was allowed to have four foreign players on its roster, including only two non-African players. Players in italics were signed only for the playoffs. If players have multiple nationalities, the nationality of an African nation is shown.
Each team will also have one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the "BAL Elevate" program. This year the league allocated the players to teams, a switch from the draft system used in the previous seasons. [27] Players were allocated based on the following criteria, in order: "country of birth, country of nationality, country where majority of life was spent, past BAL team, country of past BAL team." [27]
Notes
For a second consecutive season, the BAL champions directly qualified for the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. At the 2023 Singapore edition, Al Ahly represented the league. Al Ahly finished in the fourth place, after previously beating the NBA G League Ignite to become the first African team to win a game in the competition's history.
The league hosted the third BAL Combine at the Ibn Yassine Omnisports Hall in Rabat, Morocco, between 5 January and 7 January 2024. It was the first combine to be held on the African continent, after the previous editions were hosted in Paris and New York. [3] A total of 30 players participated under combine director Robert Pack. [3]
The schedule for the 2024 season was officially released on 5 January 2024. [3]
Phase | Round | Draw date | Games |
---|---|---|---|
Qualifying rounds ( Road to BAL) |
First Round | – | 3 – 23 October 2023 |
Elite 16 | 23 October 2023 | 31 October – 26 November 2023 | |
Regular season | Kalahari Conference | – | 9 – 17 March 2024 |
Nile Conference | 19 – 27 April 2024 | ||
Sahara Conference | 4 – 12 May 2024 | ||
Seeding games | 24 May – 1 June 2024 | ||
Playoffs | Quarter-finals | ||
Semi-finals | |||
Final and third place |
The group phase will be played between 9 March and 12 May 2024. The 12 teams of the group phase are divided into three conferences. In addition to the Sahara Conference and Nile Conference, the inaugural Kalahari Conference will take place.
Tiebreakers |
---|
The ranking of teams in the regular season is determined as follows:
[53]
|
The conference games began on 9 March and will end on 17 March 2024 and were played at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa. In the opening day game between Burundi's Dynamo and South Africa's Cape Town Tigers, the Burundian side taped off the logo of league sponsor Visit Rwanda. Political tensions between the two border nations Burundi and Rwanda had been rising, as Burundi has accused Rwanda of supporting the RED-Tabara rebel militia in the country. [54] [55] Dynamo forfeited their second game against FUS Rabat on 10 March, with the BAL citing "refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements" as the reason why. [56] Following Dynamo's second forfeit on 12 March, the team was automatically withdrawn from the group as per FIBA rules. [57] Dynamo players Bryton Hobbs and Makhtar Gueye stated that the Burundian government had prohibited the team to wear the logo and ordered the club to forfeit its games if necessary. [54] [58]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | FUS | PDL | CTT | DBC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | FUS Rabat | 4 | 3 | 1 | 363 | 295 | +68 | .750 | Advance to playoffs | — | 86–89 | 84–78 |
| |
2 | Petro de Luanda | 4 | 2 | 2 | 360 | 340 | +20 | .500 | 73–82 | — | 100–88 | Canc. | ||
3 | Cape Town Tigers (H) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 305 | 346 | −41 | .250 | Possibly advance to the playoffs | 58–84 | 84–78 | — |
| |
4 | Dynamo (D) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Withdrew | Canc. | Canc. | Canc. | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | ASC | AAL | BSC | COB | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Al Ahly (H) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 99 | 76 | +23 | .750 | Advance to playoffs | — | 98–88 | 99–76 | ||
2 | Al Ahly Ly | 4 | 2 | 2 | 93 | 71 | +22 | .500 | — | 93–71 | ||||
3 | Bangui SC | 5 | 3 | 2 | 71 | 93 | −22 | .600 | Possibly advance to the playoffs | 79–85 | 96–93 | — | 101–88 | |
4 | City Oilers | 5 | 1 | 4 | 76 | 99 | −23 | .200 | 82–81 | 68–79 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | ASD | APR | USM | RIV | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | AS Douanes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to playoffs | — | ||||
2 | APR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |||||
3 | US Monastir | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Possibly advance to the playoffs | — | ||||
4 | Rivers Hoopers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kalahari | Cape Town Tigers | 4 | 1 | 3 | 305 | 346 | −41 | .250 | Advance to playoffs |
2 | Nile | Nile Conference third-ranked team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
3 | Sahara | Sahara Conference third-ranked team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
The seeding games between the eight teams that advanced from the group phase, will be held on 24 May in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. [2] This is the first year in which seeding games are played.
The playoffs and finals will be held from 24 May to 1 June 2024 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. [2]
2024 BAL season | |
---|---|
League | Basketball Africa League |
Season | 2024 |
Dates | 9 March – 1 June 2024 [a] |
Number of games | 48 |
Number of teams | 12 |
The 2024 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 4, will be the 4th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 9 March 2024 and will finish with the final on 1 June 2024, which will be played in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda for a fourth consecutive season. [1]
This season the league was expanded to 48 games, and from two conferences to three conferences, as South Africa will host the inaugural Kalahari Conference. [2]
Al Ahly are the defending champions, having won the previous edition.
On 19 June 2023, the BAL and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) announced they agreed on a multi-year extension to their collaboration. Under the extension, it was agreed that the BK Arena in Kigali will host the playoffs and finals in the 2024, 2026 and 2028 seasons. [1]
On 5 January 2024, the host venues and schedule were announced. The SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, will be the fourth arena to host BAL games. [3]
The BAL expanded the total games in the season from 38 to 48. In the group phase, there will now be three conferences as the Kalahari Conference will be held in South Africa. The number of teams in the conferences is decreased to four, with all teams playing each other twice. The top two teams and the two best third-placed teams advance to the playoffs. Before the playoffs, the eight teams will play seeding teams to determine their opponents in the single-elimination playoffs. This was the second time the match-ups in the playoffs were determined on seeding, as this was last done in the inaugural season. [2]
The six directly qualified teams were the champions of the national leagues of six pre-selected countries. The other six team qualified through the Road to BAL.
|
|
The Road to BAL began on 3 October and ended on 26 November 2023. On 21 September 2023, FIBA announced the 20 teams that had registered to play in the first round, which is played in five groups. [4] The final phase of the West Division was organised in Yaoundé for a third time, and Johannesburg hosted the East Division finals once again. Chad was represented for the first time in tournament history.
Petro de Luanda were the first team to qualify, as they won the 2022–23 Angolan Basketball League on 19 April 2023. [5]
APR, Al Ahly Ly, Bangui Sporting Club, Dynamo and FUS Rabat will make their BAL debuts. Al Ahly Ly, Bangui Sporting Club and Dynamo are the first teams from Libya, the Central African Republic, and Burundi, respectively, to play in the BAL.
Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | BAL appearance | Previous appearance | Consecutive appearances | Previous best performance | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Petro de Luanda | 2022–23 Angolan League champions | 19 April 2023 | 4th | 2023 | 4 | Runners-up ( 2022) | [5] |
Al Ahly | 2022–23 Egyptian Premier League champions | 15 May 2023 | 2nd | 2023 | 2 | Champions ( 2023) | [6] |
US Monastir | 2022–23 Championnat Pro A champions | 27 May 2023 | 4th | 2023 | 4 | Champions ( 2022) | [7] |
APR | 2023 RBL season champions | 9 September 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [8] |
AS Douanes | 2023 Nationale 1 champions | 17 September 2023 | 3rd | 2023 | 2 | Runners-up ( 2023) | [9] |
Bangui Sporting Club | Road to BAL West Division champions | 4 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [10] |
FUS Rabat | Road to BAL West Division runners-up | 4 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [11] |
Al Ahly Ly [b] | Road to BAL West Division third place | 5 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [12] |
City Oilers | Road to BAL East Division runners-up | 25 November 2023 | 2nd | 2023 | 2 | Group phase ( 2023) | [13] |
Cape Town Tigers | Road to BAL East Division champions | 25 November 2023 | 3rd | 2023 | 3 | Quarterfinals ( 2022, 2023) | [14] |
Rivers Hoopers | 2023 NBBF Premier League champions | 25 November 2023 | 2nd | 2021 | 1 | Group phase ( 2021) | [15] |
Dynamo | Road to BAL East Division third place | 26 November 2023 | 1st | — | 1 | — | [16] |
As of 26 November 2023.
Team | Head coach | Captain |
---|---|---|
Al Ahly | Augustí Julbe [17] | Seif Samir |
Al Ahly Ly | Ivan Jeremić [18] | Sofian Hamad [18] |
APR | Maz Trakh | Jean Jacques Nshobozwa |
AS Douanes | Pabi Guèye | Alkaly Ndour |
Bangui Sporting Club | François Enyengue [18] | Jimmy Djimrabaye [18] |
Cape Town Tigers | Mlungisi Ngwenya | Lebesa Selepe [19] |
City Oilers | Nesba Karim [20] | James Okello [21] |
Dynamo | Julien Chaignot [22] | Bryton Hobbs [19] |
FUS Rabat | Said El Bouzidi | Abdelhakim Zouita [23] |
Petro de Luanda | José Neto (Conference Stage) [24] [c] | Carlos Morais [23] |
Sergio Valdeolmillos (Playoffs) [25] [c] | ||
Rivers Hoopers | Ogoh Odaudu | |
US Monastir | Adel Tlatli [26] |
Each BAL team was allowed to have four foreign players on its roster, including only two non-African players. Players in italics were signed only for the playoffs. If players have multiple nationalities, the nationality of an African nation is shown.
Each team will also have one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the "BAL Elevate" program. This year the league allocated the players to teams, a switch from the draft system used in the previous seasons. [27] Players were allocated based on the following criteria, in order: "country of birth, country of nationality, country where majority of life was spent, past BAL team, country of past BAL team." [27]
Notes
For a second consecutive season, the BAL champions directly qualified for the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. At the 2023 Singapore edition, Al Ahly represented the league. Al Ahly finished in the fourth place, after previously beating the NBA G League Ignite to become the first African team to win a game in the competition's history.
The league hosted the third BAL Combine at the Ibn Yassine Omnisports Hall in Rabat, Morocco, between 5 January and 7 January 2024. It was the first combine to be held on the African continent, after the previous editions were hosted in Paris and New York. [3] A total of 30 players participated under combine director Robert Pack. [3]
The schedule for the 2024 season was officially released on 5 January 2024. [3]
Phase | Round | Draw date | Games |
---|---|---|---|
Qualifying rounds ( Road to BAL) |
First Round | – | 3 – 23 October 2023 |
Elite 16 | 23 October 2023 | 31 October – 26 November 2023 | |
Regular season | Kalahari Conference | – | 9 – 17 March 2024 |
Nile Conference | 19 – 27 April 2024 | ||
Sahara Conference | 4 – 12 May 2024 | ||
Seeding games | 24 May – 1 June 2024 | ||
Playoffs | Quarter-finals | ||
Semi-finals | |||
Final and third place |
The group phase will be played between 9 March and 12 May 2024. The 12 teams of the group phase are divided into three conferences. In addition to the Sahara Conference and Nile Conference, the inaugural Kalahari Conference will take place.
Tiebreakers |
---|
The ranking of teams in the regular season is determined as follows:
[53]
|
The conference games began on 9 March and will end on 17 March 2024 and were played at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa. In the opening day game between Burundi's Dynamo and South Africa's Cape Town Tigers, the Burundian side taped off the logo of league sponsor Visit Rwanda. Political tensions between the two border nations Burundi and Rwanda had been rising, as Burundi has accused Rwanda of supporting the RED-Tabara rebel militia in the country. [54] [55] Dynamo forfeited their second game against FUS Rabat on 10 March, with the BAL citing "refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements" as the reason why. [56] Following Dynamo's second forfeit on 12 March, the team was automatically withdrawn from the group as per FIBA rules. [57] Dynamo players Bryton Hobbs and Makhtar Gueye stated that the Burundian government had prohibited the team to wear the logo and ordered the club to forfeit its games if necessary. [54] [58]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | FUS | PDL | CTT | DBC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | FUS Rabat | 4 | 3 | 1 | 363 | 295 | +68 | .750 | Advance to playoffs | — | 86–89 | 84–78 |
| |
2 | Petro de Luanda | 4 | 2 | 2 | 360 | 340 | +20 | .500 | 73–82 | — | 100–88 | Canc. | ||
3 | Cape Town Tigers (H) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 305 | 346 | −41 | .250 | Possibly advance to the playoffs | 58–84 | 84–78 | — |
| |
4 | Dynamo (D) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Withdrew | Canc. | Canc. | Canc. | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | ASC | AAL | BSC | COB | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Al Ahly (H) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 99 | 76 | +23 | .750 | Advance to playoffs | — | 98–88 | 99–76 | ||
2 | Al Ahly Ly | 4 | 2 | 2 | 93 | 71 | +22 | .500 | — | 93–71 | ||||
3 | Bangui SC | 5 | 3 | 2 | 71 | 93 | −22 | .600 | Possibly advance to the playoffs | 79–85 | 96–93 | — | 101–88 | |
4 | City Oilers | 5 | 1 | 4 | 76 | 99 | −23 | .200 | 82–81 | 68–79 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification | ASD | APR | USM | RIV | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | AS Douanes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advance to playoffs | — | ||||
2 | APR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |||||
3 | US Monastir | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Possibly advance to the playoffs | — | ||||
4 | Rivers Hoopers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kalahari | Cape Town Tigers | 4 | 1 | 3 | 305 | 346 | −41 | .250 | Advance to playoffs |
2 | Nile | Nile Conference third-ranked team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
3 | Sahara | Sahara Conference third-ranked team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
The seeding games between the eight teams that advanced from the group phase, will be held on 24 May in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. [2] This is the first year in which seeding games are played.
The playoffs and finals will be held from 24 May to 1 June 2024 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. [2]