Английская Википедия:Basketball Africa League
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Infobox basketball league
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men's basketball league in Africa.[1] Founded in 2019, the organization was established by both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and International Basketball Federation (FIBA).[2]
Each season typically runs from March to May, and in the current format the league consists of twelve teams. Each of the teams qualify through their performance in their domestic competition, a meritocratic system similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League.[3] Six teams qualify directly, while six others have to play in the Road to BAL. The season exists out of three conferences and uses playoffs to determine the champions. The BAL champions of each season automatically qualify for the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
The first season was held in 2021 and thus far, three champions have won the competion.
History
On 16 February 2019 the National Basketball Association and FIBA announced plans to establish a continental professional basketball league.[4] During a press conference at the 2019 NBA All-Star weekend, NBA commissioner Adam Silver elaborated on plans to establish the league. He stated that the league will feature 12 teams after qualification tournaments in late 2019. The countries that could possibly host a team include; Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.[5][6] Silver also hinted at the involvement of former U.S. president Barack Obama in an unspecified role.[2] In May 2019, Amadou Gallo Fall was assigned by the NBA as the first president of the BAL.[7] In September 2019, BAL announced the venues and cities for the inaugural season, which included a Final Four played in Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.[8]
On 15 October 2019, the qualifying tournaments for the inaugural season began, with teams from 32 African countries participating.[9] The start of the BAL was eventually postponed twice due to the disruptive COVID-19 pandemic.[10] The first BAL game was played on 16 May 2021, in the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, which hosted the entire tournament. The season was held in a bio-secure bubble with only limited attendance allowed. On 30 May, Zamalek from Egypt won the first-ever BAL championship after beating US Monastir in the inaugural final.[11]
The following season, the league expanded it format with five-team conferences (the Sahara and Nile Conference), which were held in Dakar and Cairo. The playoffs were held in Kigali.
Format
Each BAL season consists of twelve teams. In the regular season, the twelve teams are divided into two conferences (Sahara Conference and Nile Conference), in which they play five games each. The four highest-placed teams of each conference advance to the playoffs, which is a single-elimination tournament which decides the BAL champion.
Qualification
Шаблон:Main Like Europe's Basketball Champions League and association football's CAF Champions League, the BAL has qualifying rounds to determine which teams play in each season. National federations from African countries are given the opportunity to send one representing club, usually the champions of the respective national league. In the Road to BAL, teams play each other in groups for six remaining spots in the BAL regular season. In the first round, all participating teams are divided over groups, with the top teams advancing to the Elite 16. There, another group stage follows before single-game eliminations are played in the semi-finals and finals.
Six teams from six predetermined countries qualify directly for the regular season, without playing qualifiers, to make for a total of twelve teams. These countries have been determined based on basketball history and commercial market size, and have thus far been Angola, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco (in 2021), Nigeria, Rwanda (since 2022) and Senegal.
Foreign players restrictions
Each club participating in the BAL regular season is restricted to having four foreign players only, which means it has to have at least 8 local players on its roster. Furthermore, two out of four foreign players must be from another African country. A maximum of 2 out of the 4 foreign players can be from outside of Africa. [12]
BAL Elevate program
Ahead of the 2022 season, the BAL launched the BAL Elevate program in cooperation with the NBA Academy Africa. The program places a player from the academy in one of the team's rosters. Players from the same country as a BAL team are automatically assigned to a team, while remaining players are selected from a pool. Elevate players do not share in the prize money that is awarded from the competition, to preserve their amateur status.[13]
Teams
Over four BAL seasons, 24 teams from 19 countries have played in the BAL.
Current teams
The following are the twelve teams of the 2024 BAL season.
Results
List of finals
| Edition | Year | Hosts | Champions | Score and Venue | Runners-up | Third place | Score and Venue | Fourth place | No. of teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2021 | Шаблон:Flagicon Kigali |
Шаблон:Flagicon Zamalek |
76–63 Kigali Arena, Kigali |
Шаблон:Flagicon US Monastir |
Шаблон:Flagicon Petro de Luanda |
97–68 Kigali Arena, Kigali |
Шаблон:Flagicon Patriots |
12 |
| 2 | 2022 | Шаблон:Flagicon Kigali |
Шаблон:Flagicon US Monastir |
83–72 BK Arena, Kigali |
Шаблон:Flagicon Petro de Luanda |
Шаблон:Flagicon Zamalek |
97–74 BK Arena, Kigali |
Шаблон:Flagicon FAP | |
| 3 | 2023 | Шаблон:Flagicon Kigali |
Шаблон:Flagicon Al Ahly |
80–65 BK Arena, Kigali |
Шаблон:Flagicon AS Douanes |
Шаблон:Flagicon Stade Malien |
73-65 BK Arena, Kigali |
Шаблон:Flagicon Petro de Luanda |
Performance by club
| Club | Titles | Runners-up | Years won | Years runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Шаблон:Flagicon US Monastir | 1 | 1 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Шаблон:Flagicon Al Ahly | 1 | 0 | 2023 | Шаблон:Sort dash |
| Шаблон:Flagicon Zamalek | 1 | 0 | 2021 | Шаблон:Sort dash |
| Шаблон:Flagicon Petro de Luanda | 0 | 1 | Шаблон:Sort dash | 2022 |
| Шаблон:Flagicon AS Douanes | 0 | 1 | Шаблон:Sort dash | 2023 |
Performance by country
| Club | Titles | Runners-up | Years won | Years runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Шаблон:Flag | 2 | 0 | 2021, 2023 | Шаблон:Sort dash |
| Шаблон:Flag | 1 | 1 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Шаблон:Flag | 0 | 1 | Шаблон:Sort dash | 2022 |
| Шаблон:Flag | 0 | 1 | Шаблон:Sort dash | 2023 |
Records and statistics
Шаблон:Main article Solo Diabate and Michael Fakuade have won two BAL championships, and are the only players to have won multiple titles.[14] Chris Crawford is the all-time scoring leader of the league, having scored 341 points in three seasons.
All-time participants
The following is a list of clubs who have played in the Basketball Africa League at any time since its formation in 2020 to the current season. A total of 19 teams from 16 countries have played in the BAL thus far.
| 1st | Champions | |||||
| 2nd | Runners-up | |||||
| 3rd | Third place | |||||
| 4th | Fourth place | |||||
| QF | Quarterfinalists | |||||
| GS | Group phase | |||||
| TBD | To be determined | |||||
Sponsorship and partnerships
Since its inception, the BAL has been sponsored by multiple multinational organisations, including:
- Air Jordan
- Flutterwave
- French Development Agency (AFD)
- Hennessy
- New Fortress Energy[15]
- Nike
- RwandAir[16]
- Visit Rwanda[17]
- Wilson
Trophy and prize money
The champions of the BAL finals receive the competitions' trophy, which is inspired by the adansonia (more commonly known as baobab), a common type of tree in Africa.[18]
In the inaugural season in 2021, the champions reportedly received $100,000 in prize money; runners-up received $75,000; third place $55,000 and fourth place $25,000.[19]
Organisation, ownership and investments
The BAL is owned and operated by NBA Africa, a sub-entity of the NBA which was established in May 2021.[20] Since then, the league has been driven by private investments. At the moment of establishment, strategic investors including a consortium of Babatunde “Tunde” Folawiyo, Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation (HFP). Other investors included former players such as Dikembe Mutombo, Junior Bridgeman, Luol Deng, Grant Hill, Joakim Noah and Ian Mahinmi.[21] Two months later, it was announced that former President of the United States Barack Obama joined NBA Africa as a strategic partner while also purchasing a minority stake in the organisation.[22] NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated that NBA Africa was valued at $1 billion.[23]
The organisation of the league currently exists out of:
- Amadou Gallo Fall (Commissioner)[24]
- John Manyo-Plange (Vice-President)[25]
- Victor Williams (CEO NBA Africa)
Criticism
The Human Rights Foundation has criticized the BAL for maintaining close relations with Paul Kagame and his Rwandan authoritarian government, and has sent an official letter to the NBA regarding the matter.[26] Other newspapers such as The Guardian and Bloomberg News have also described the league as being a tool for sportswashing for the Rwandan government's repression and the regime's involvement in the Rwandan Civil War.[26][27][28]
Media coverage
The BAL games are broadcastin as many as 215 countries in 14 languages.[29] All BAL games are broadcast by:[30]
| Location | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| Шаблон:Flagicon Africa | ESPN Africa |
| Visionview.tv (online) | |
| Canal+ Afrique | |
| Voice of Africa Radio | |
| Шаблон:Flag | NBATV Canada |
| TSN | |
| Шаблон:Flagicon China | Tencent Sports |
| Шаблон:Flagicon Middle East | OnTime Sports |
| Шаблон:Flag | Zamalek TV (Zamalek games only)[31] |
| Шаблон:Flag | Arryadia (AS Salé games only) |
| Шаблон:Flag | El Watania 2 (US Monastir games only) |
| Шаблон:Flag | ESPN+ |
| NBA TV | |
| Voice of America | |
| Шаблон:Flagicon International | beIN Sports |
| theBAL.com (online) |
References
External links
Шаблон:Basketball Africa League Шаблон:Men's professional basketball leagues Шаблон:African sport club competitions Шаблон:International basketball Шаблон:Authority control
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- ↑ 26,0 26,1 Шаблон:Cite web
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