The Basketball Africa League (BAL) returns for its 5th season, with Rabat, Morocco, set as a new destination to host the Kalahari Conference from April 5 to 13.
The Basketball Africa League officially launched its fifth season on Thursday, November 21, during an online meeting with the press. For the first time, Morocco is set to host the conference games, South Africa will host the playoffs and finals, and Rwanda will not host the finals.
The format remains the same, but the host cities for the three conferences and the finals changed. Morocco will host the Kalahari Conference from April 5 to 13, followed by Senegal with the Sahara Conference from April 26 to May 4.
Rwanda will host the Nile Conference from May 17 to 25.
This is the first time Morocco will host a major continental tournament since 2001, when Casablanca hosted the AfroBasket.
Rabat, Morocco’s capital, replaces Cairo as one of the three cities that traditionally host this premier continental club championship.
Out of the 12 teams competing in the fifth season, only two spots remain undecided.
These two teams will emerge from the Road to BAL East Division Elite 16, scheduled to take place in Nairobi from November 28 to December 3, after several changes in venues and dates.
Along with the two East Division teams, the two teams from the West Division—Stade Malien (Mali) and Al Ahly Tripoli (Libya)—will join the automatically qualified teams: Petro de Luanda (Angola), Al Ittihad Alexandria (Egypt), US Monastir (Tunisia), ASCVD (Senegal), APR (Rwanda), FUS Rabat (Morocco), MBB (South Africa), and Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria).
The 12 teams will be divided into three conferences, with the best 8 teams advancing to the finals in South Africa, scheduled from June 6 to 14.
Angola’s Petro de Luanda will be determined to hold on to their title.
