Everything you need to know: FIBA WASL season 2

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The hype has been building up for the second season of FIBA West Asia Super League, the follow-up to the exciting inaugural season.

Both the Gulf and West Asia leagues will commence this week, so we're here to make sure everyone is ready for the action and are on the same page.

Here’s a quick guide for all of the new basketball fans interested in the action, which can also serve as a reminder for those who are coming back for the fun after the previous season.

What is FIBA WASL?

FIBA West Asia Super League or FIBA WASL is a pan-regional league for the top professional clubs from West Asia, Gulf, in addition to champions from South and Central Asia.

The competition stages top clubs representing four out of the six Sub-Zones in the FIBA Asia Region. Multiple champion clubs and a total of eighteen clubs will compete on a weekly-basis during the FIBA WASL Group Phase and the Final Eight.

What are FIBA WASL West Asia and WASL Gulf Leagues?

WASL West Asia League  and WASL Gulf League are the Group Phase of the West Asia Super League (WASL). 

How many teams are playing in these leagues and who are they?

A total of sixteen teams are playing in FIBA WASL West Asia and WASL Gulf leagues with eight teams in each league. The teams in each league are:

WASL West Asia League:

Al Naft (Iraq)
Al Riyadi (Lebanon)
Al Shorta SC (Iraq)
Al Wahda SC (Syria)
Al-Ittihad Ahli (Syria)
C.S Sagesse (Lebanon)
Orthodox Beit Sahour (Palestine)
Shahdary Gorgan (Iran)

WASL Gulf League:

Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia)
Al Manama (Bahrain)
Al Muharraq Sports Club (Bahrain)
Al Rayyan (Qatar)
Al Shamal (Qatar)
Kazma (Kuwait)
Kuwait Club (Kuwait)
Shabab Al Ahli - Dubai (UAE)

Who are the returning and new teams?

In West Asia, the returning teams are the defending champions Al Riyadi, finalist Shahdary Gorgan, Al Naft, and Al-Ittihad Ahli.

In the Gulf, the returning teams are the defending WASL Final 8 champions Al Manama, WASL-Gulf champions Kuwait Club, Shabab Al Ahli - Dubai, and Kazma.

Who are the defending champions and who qualified for WASL Final 8?

There was no shortage of excitement in the first season of both leagues.

 

Over in WASL-West Asia, Al Riyadi capped off an exhilarating campaign to add yet another trophy to their storied collection by knocking out Gorgan. The two finalists were joined by Beirut Club in advancing to the Final 8.

In WASL-Gulf, Kuwait Club set the bar high from the very first season, going undefeated from start to finish to lift the trophy after taking down Manama in the Finals. Kuwait Club, Manama, and Shabab Al Ahli - Dubai moved on to the Final 8 which was hosted in Dubai and ended up with a WASL-Gulf Finals rematch.

Manama eventually got their revenge, beating Kuwait Club to win the first-ever WASL Final 8.

How does the Group Phase work?

This season will follow the same format as the inaugural season. It will progress in the Group Phase with all teams in the same group playing against each other twice in a home-and-away format. The groups in each league are:

WASL West Asia League

Group A

1	Kuwait Club
2	Al Ahli
3	Al Rayyan
4	Al Muharraq Sport Club

Group B

1	Al Manama
2	Shabab Al Ahli - Dubai
3	Al Shamal
4	Kazma

WASL Gulf League

Group A

1	Shahrdary Gorgan
2	Al Naft
3	Al-Ittihad Ahli
4	C.S. Sagesse

Group B

1	Al Riyadi
2	Al Shorta SC
3	Al Wahda SC
4	Orthodox Beit Sahour

This accounts for a total of 48 games during the Group Phase in both leagues.

At the end of the group games, the first-place teams in each group will advance directly to the Semi-Finals. The second- and third-place teams will crossover to play in the Qualification to Semi-Finals match-ups.

Each bracket pairing will be played in a Best-of-Three series.

What is next for the champions of each WASL league?

Just like last season, the champions of both WASL West Asia and WASL Gulf leagues will qualify for the Final 8, while also owning the bragging rights as the best club of their respective region until the next season.

In addition to the champions of each league, the runners-up and the third-placed teams of each league will also qualify to play in WASL Final 8.

The six qualified teams from WASL West Asia and WASL Gulf leagues will be joined by the best teams from South and Central Asia Sub-Zones in the Final 8 to complete a field of 8 teams.

Teams reaching the final of the WASL Final 8 will book their place in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2024, on the road to the Intercontinental Cup, FIBA’s highest club competition.

When are the FIBA WASL West Asia and WASL Gulf league games played?

For this upcoming season, the first gameday of WASL Gulf league will be on 13 November 2023. The game will be between newcomer Muharraq and defending champions Kuwait Club in Bahrain. WASL Gulf league games will be played every Monday and Tuesday.

The first gameday of WASL West Asia league will be on 15 November 2023. The game will be between C.S Sagesse and Shahrdary Gorgan in Lebanon. WASL West Asia league games will be played every Wednesday and Thursday.

The last gameday of the Group Phase is scheduled to be on 13 February 2024 for WASL Gulf league and 15 February 2024 for WASL West Asia league.

The Final Phase is expected to be played until late April to early May 2024 for both leagues.

Which players should the fans expect to see in FIBA WASL West Asia and WASL Gulf Leagues this season?

A new season bodes new stars and familiar faces.

In WASL-Gulf, rising phenom Mosti Rashed is back for more for the WASL Final 8 champions, Manama. But he's not the only one. As a matter of fact, the WASL-Gulf finalists are actually returning most of their key players in search of a repeat.

The defending WASL-Gulf champions Kuwait SC will be out to stop them as they return the likes of Cady Lalanne, Marcus Georges-Hunt, and the Hasan brothers, Hamad and Mohammad.

Other key stars returning to the same teams are Qais Omar Alshabebi (Shabab Al Ahli - Dubai), Nick Minnerath (Shabab Al Ahli - Dubai), and Abdulaziz Alhamidi (Kazma).

There's also an added twist of players returning albeit with different teams, which, in this case, is Clint Chapman who played for Al Hilal last season and will be suiting up with Kazma this week.

Of course, be on the lookout for new players to follow whether it's exciting names like Travis Leslie (Kazma), Bade Malabes (Muharraq), Devin Ebanks (Al Ahli-Jeddah), and DeAndre Liggins (Al Ahli-Jeddah), to name just a few.

In WASL-West Asia, Al Ryadi are returning their main core so look forward to seeing Wael Arakji, Ali Mansour, Amir Saoud, Karim Zeinoun, and Hayk Gyokchyan once again. That will be a bit in contrast with their Finals opponents Gorgan, who are changing up their look with the additions of Arsalan Kazemi and Amir Gholizadeh, both of whom played for ZobAhan last season.

Antwaine Wiggins (Al Naft), Karrar Hamzah (Al Naft), Nadim Issa (Al-Ittihad Ahli), Anthouny Bakar (Al-Ittihad Ahli) are returning for another season with their respective clubs as well.

Last season, fans saw an interesting case of Kevin Murphy transferring from WASL-Gulf (Kazma) to WASL-West Asia (Al Riyadi). We have another case here right from the beginning as ex-Manama star scorer Momo Jones will be suiting up for newcomers Al Shorta from Iraq.

Other familiar faces who are swapping jerseys include Darrin Dorsey, Omar Jamaleddine, and Rodrigue Akl.

FIBA