Dakar (© 2023 Afriquinfos)- The edition of the Basket Africa League (BAL) will be officially launched on March 11 in Dakar. The twelve representatives of the twelve African countries are known. US Monastir, defending champion, puts its trophy back on the line. The Tunisian club will have to defend its title against 5 teams that were already present in the 2022 season and 5 teams that are participating for their very first time. The Senegalese club As Douanes is making its comeback after missing the BAL 2022.
On March 11, it’s off again for the Basket Africa League. A delight for fans of the orange ball who will have 38 matches on the menu divided between 38 matches divided between Dakar, Cairo in Egypt and Kigali in Rwanda spread over three months in 2023.
Who are the contenders for the succession of US Monastir? The Tunisian club which aims to make the pass of two and 11 other teams divided into two Conferences: the Sahara conference and the Nile conference. Among these, 5 teams already on the court in 2022:
Rwanda Energy Group (Rwanda), Cape Town Tiger (South Africa), Ferroviaro de Beira (Mozambique), Club Atlético Petróleos de Luanda – Petro de Luanda (Angola), Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club – SLAC (Guinea) and those who discover the competition for the first time: ABC Fighters (Ivory Coast), Kwara Falcons (Nigeria), Stade Malien (Mali), Al Ahly (Egypt) and City Oilers. The national league champions of Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia clinched their ticket to the 2023 BAL season by winning their respective national leagues. The other six teams, from Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda, have earned their place in the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments organized by FIBA Africa on the whole continent from October to November 2022.
Hot tussles are in sight, the first of which on March 11 will pit the defending champion, US Monastir and Club Malien against each other. For the BAL, it’s a great show that is in sight: ” There is incredible excitement ahead of BAL’s third season, with each of the 12 teams fighting a fierce battle for their place,” said BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall. “We look forward to seeing the first action on the court next month in Dakar and bringing world-class basketball and entertainment to our passionate fans in Africa and around the world. » “We are excited to kick off what promises to be another outstanding BAL season,” said Anibal Manave, President of FIBA Africa and BAL Board of Directors.
“Judging by the quality of the teams that qualified from the Road to the BAL tournaments last November, we are confident that fans and viewers will be treated to top-level basketball that reflects the caliber of talent we have on the continent. The Sahara Conference group stage will take place at the Dakar Arena from March 11-21, and the Nile Conference group stage will take place at the Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 26-May 6. The top four teams from each conference will advance to the playoffs in the form of a knockout tournament and the finals to be played at the BK Arena in Kigali from May 21-27. It promises.
Boniface T.
