ES Rades, JS Kairouan, AS Sale join FIBA AfroLeague 2019 lineup

TUNIS (FIBA AfroLeague 2019) - Three FIBA Africa Zone 1 clubs over the weekend sealed their spots for the inaugural FIBA AfroLeague.

Tunisian outfits Etoile Sportive Rades and JS Kairouan were joined by Morocco's Association Sportive Sale, who claimed last year's FIBA Africa Champions Cup. 

 With the addition of the three North African clubs, the 16-team FIBA AfroLeague 2019 lineup is almost complete as FIBA Africa is expected to allocate one wildcard before the draw takes place this month.

The First Round of the of the formulated competition will take place from January 25 to March 10, 2019, across different African cities. 

The 16 qualified teams for the Round of 16 will be divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each and the competition will be played in a round-robin format with each team taking on its 3 opponent respectively. 

AS Sale of Morocco won the FIBA Africa Champions Cup 2017 (now rebranded as FIBA AfroLeague)

And, the clubs that finish in the top 2 teams from each group advance to the Elite 8, where clubs will be divided into four groups of 2 teams each. The teams will play home-and-away games in the knock-out format.

The four winners from Elite 8 advance to the FINAL 4 to be played from May 17-19.

Teams qualified include AS Sale (Morocco), ES Rades (Tunisia), JS Kairouan (Tunisia), Rivers Hoppers (Nigeria), Civil Defenders (Nigeria), Elan Sportif (Benin), SLAC (Guinea), ASB Mazembe (DR Congo), ASB Terreur (DR Congo), Al Ahly (Egypt), Smouha (Egypt), Primeiro D’Agosto (Angola), Petro de Luanda (Angola), Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique) and COSPN (Madagascar).

FIBA