DAKAR (Senegal) - The Basketball Africa League (BAL) today announced the 12 teams and game schedule for the opening leg of the league's milestone fifth season, which will tip off with the Kalahari Conference group phase from April 5 to 13 in Rabat, Morocco.
The 2025 BAL season, which will feature three regular-season group phases and culminate with the Playoffs and Finals at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa in June, will feature a record six first-time BAL participants, including the first BAL teams from Cape Verde (Kriol Star Basketball) and Kenya (Nairobi City Thunder), as well as defending champion Petro de Luanda (Angola) and 2022 champion US Monastir (Tunisia). Petro de Luanda and US Monastir are the only teams to have qualified for all five BAL seasons. Below is the complete list of participating teams by conference.
Kalahari Conference |
|---|
Al Ittihad (Egypt)* |
Fath Union Sport (FUS; Morocco) |
Stade Malien (Mali) |
Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria) |
Sahara Conference |
|---|
ASC Ville de Dakar (Senegal)* |
Kriol Star Basketball (Cape Verde)* |
Petro de Luanda (Angola) |
US Monastir (Tunisia) |
Nile Conference |
|---|
Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya)* |
Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball (APR; Rwanda) |
Made by Basketball (MBB; South Africa)* |
Nairobi City Thunder (Kenya)* |
*First-time BAL participant
Each conference will play a 12-game group phase during which each team will face the other three teams in its conference twice. During group phase play, the home team in each country will play on every gameday.
In the season opener, Stade Malien (Mali) will face Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria). In the second game, home team Fath Union Sport (FUS; Morocco) will take on Al Ittihad (Egypt). Single-game tickets for the games in Rabat are available online at Guichet.ma and at the following physical locations: Megarama Cinema in Casablanca, Megarama Cinema in Fes and the National Theatre in Rabat.
Tickets for the games in Dakar, Senegal, are also on sale now at BAL.NBA.com and Bal-teewtickets.com.
Eight teams from across the three conferences will travel to Pretoria for four seeding games followed by an eight-game, single-elimination Playoffs and Finals from Friday, June 6 to 14.
Additional information about the 2025 BAL season will be announced in the coming weeks.
FIBA