For the very first time in history, Morocco will host BAL (African Basketball League) matches, as President Amadou Gallo Fall announced this Thursday, November 21, during a videoconference.
This 5th edition will be played in Rabat, Dakar (Senegal), Kigali (Rwanda) and Pretoria (South Africa). It will start on Saturday April 5 at the Moulay Abdellah Complex in Rabat and end on Saturday June 14 at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria. This is also the first time that South Africa will host the BAL final.
The 12 teams will be divided into 3 conferences of 4 members each. The Kalahari conference will be held in Rabat from April 5 to 13, while the Sahara conference is expected from April 26 to May 4 in Dakar and the Nile Conference is scheduled between May 17 and 25 in Kigali.
Eight teams will then qualify for the Playoffs in Pretoria which will start on June 6 while the final is therefore set for the 14th of the same month.
As a reminder, the Angolan, Egyptian, Moroccan, Nigerian, Rwandan, Senegalese and Tunisian national champions are automatically qualified for the tournament while the other 5 places go to the winners of the qualifying tournament which is currently being held until December .
It is the FUS, reigning Moroccan champion, who will be national representative, marking a second participation in a row after its quarter-final last season, finally won by the Angolans of Petro Atlético.