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Basketball Africa League Announces Teams, Conferences and Game Schedule ahead of 2023 Season Tipping off March 11 in Dakar, Senegal

The 12 teams include defending BAL champion US Monastir (Tunisia) and five other teams returning from the 2022 season

The 2023 BAL season will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories on television, digital media, and social media

DAKAR, Senegal, February 13, 2023/APO Group/ --

Season Opener Will Feature Senegal’s AS Douanes Taking on Côte d’Ivoire’s Abidjan Basket Club at the Dakar Arena on Saturday, March 11 at 4:00 p.m. GMT; 2022 BAL (https://BAL.NBA.com) Champion US Monastir of Tunisia Will Begin Title Defense on Sunday, March 12 at 5:30 p.m. GMT; Kwara Falcons Will Represent Nigeria as West African Nation Returns to the BAL Alongside First-Time Participants Abidjan Basket Club (Côte d’Ivoire), Stade Malien (Mali), Al Ahly (Egypt) and City Oilers (Uganda); Fans Can Visit BAL.NBA.com to Register Their Interest in Tickets.

The Basketball Africa League (BAL) today announced the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries that will compete in the 2023 BAL season, which will tip off on Saturday, March 11 at the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal, and will once again feature a total of 38 games in Dakar; Cairo, Egypt and Kigali, Rwanda over three months in 2023. Fans can register their interest in tickets at BAL.NBA.com.   

The 12 teams include defending BAL champion US Monastir (Tunisia) and five other teams returning from the 2022 season. Five teams will compete in the BAL for the first time, including the first BAL teams from Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda: Abidjan Basket Club (Côte d’Ivoire), Al Ahly (Egypt), City Oilers (Uganda), Kwara Falcons (Nigeria) and Stade Malien (Mali). AS Douanes (Senegal) returns to the BAL after participating in the inaugural season in 2021. 

The season opener will feature AS Douanes taking on Abidjan Basket Club on March 11 at 4:00 p.m. GMT. US Monastir will begin its title defense on Sunday, March 12 at 5:30 p.m. GMT against Stade Malien.

The 12 teams will once again be divided into two conferences – the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference. Each conference will play a 15-game group phase during which each team will face the other five teams in its conference once. The Sahara Conference’s group phase will take place at the Dakar Arena from March 11-21, and the Nile Conference’s group phase will take place at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 26 - May 6. The top four teams from each conference will qualify for the BAL Playoffs and Finals, which will feature a single-elimination tournament at BK Arena in Kigali from May 21-27.

Abidjan Basket Club - ABC Fighters (Côte d’Ivoire)**

Al Ahly (Egypt)**

AS Douanes (Senegal)

Cape Town Tigers (South Africa)*

Kwara Falcons (Nigeria)**

City Oilers (Uganda)**

Rwanda Energy Group - REG (Rwanda)*

Clube Ferroviário da Beira - CFV Beira (Mozambique)*

Stade Malien (Mali)**

Club Atlético Petróleos de Luanda - Petro de Luanda (Angola)*

Union Sportive Monastirienne – US Monastir (Tunisia)*

Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club - SLAC (Guinea)*

*Returning Team from 2022 BAL Season
**First-Time Participant in the BAL

“There is incredible momentum leading up to the third BAL season, and each of the 12 teams have fought hard to earn their spot through intense competition,” said BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall.  “We are very excited to see the on-court action tip off next month in Dakar and look forward to delivering world-class basketball and entertainment to our passionate fans across Africa and around the world.”

“We are thrilled to rollout what promises to be another exceptional BAL season,” said FIBA Africa and BAL Board President Anibal Manave. “Judging from the quality of the teams that qualified through the Road to the BAL tournaments which ended in November last year, we are confident that fans and viewers will be treated to top-tier basketball that reflects the caliber of the talent we have on the continent.”

Champions from the national leagues in Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia earned their participation in the 2023 BAL season by winning their respective national leagues. The remaining six teams, which come from Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa, and Uganda, secured their participation through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October to November 2022.

The 2023 BAL season will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories on television, digital media, and social media. Rwanda Development Board, NIKE, Jordan Brand and Wilson will return as BAL Foundational Partners. The league’s roster of world-class marketing partners also includes Hennessy and Envol City.

On May 28, US Monastir defeated Petro de Luanda to win the 2022 BAL Finals in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,000 at BK Arena. The 2022 BAL season featured players from 23 countries across Africa, Europe, and the U.S, reached fans in 214 countries and territories in 14 languages - including all 54 African countries - and generated more than 600 million online engagements.

Below is the complete 2023 BAL season game schedule.  Additional details about the 2023 BAL season will be announced in the coming weeks.

DATE

DAY

HOME

AWAY

GAME

LOCAL TIME

ET

SAHARA CONFERENCE

03/11/2023

Saturday

AS Douanes

ABC Fighters

G1

4:00 PM

11:00 AM

03/12/2023

Sunday

REG

Kwara Falcons

G2

2:00 PM

10:00 AM

03/12/2023

Sunday

Stade Malien

US Monastir

G3

5:30 PM

1:30 PM

03/14/2023

Tuesday

Kwara Falcons

Stade Malien

G4

4:00 PM

12:00 PM

03/14/2023

Tuesday

ABC Fighters

REG

G5

7:30 PM

3:30 PM

03/15/2023

Wednesday

US Monastir

Kwara Falcons

G6

4:00 PM

12:00 PM

03/15/2023

Wednesday

REG

AS Douanes

G7

7:30 PM

3:30 PM

03/17/2023

Friday

ABC Fighters

US Monastir

G8

4:00 PM

12:00 PM

03/17/2023

Friday

AS Douanes

Stade Malien

G9

7:30 PM

3:30 PM

03/18/2023

Saturday

Stade Malien

REG

G10

2:00 PM

10:00 AM

03/18/2023

Saturday

Kwara Falcons

AS Douanes

G11

5:30 PM

1:30 PM

03/20/2023

Monday

Kwara Falcons

ABC Fighters

G12

4:00 PM

12:00 PM

03/20/2023

Monday

REG

US Monastir

G13

7:30 PM

3:30 PM

03/21/2023

Tuesday

ABC Fighters

Stade Malien

G14

4:00 PM

12:00 PM

03/21/2023

Tuesday

US Monastir

AS Douanes

G15

7:30 PM

3:30 PM

NILE CONFERENCE

04/26/2023

Wednesday

Al Ahly

CFV - Beira

G16

6:00 PM

12:00 PM

04/27/2023

Thursday

SLAC

Cape Town

G17

5:00 PM

1:00 PM

04/27/2023

Thursday

Petro de Luanda

City Oilers

G18

8:30 PM

2:30 PM

04/29/2023

Saturday

CFV - Beira

Petro de Luanda

G19

4:00 PM

10:00 AM

04/29/2023

Saturday

City Oilers

Al Ahly

G20

7:30 PM

1:30 PM

04/30/2023

Sunday

SLAC

CFV - Beira

G21

5:00 PM

11:00 AM

04/30/2023

Sunday

Petro de Luanda

Cape Town

G22

8:30 PM

2:30 PM

05/02/2023

Tuesday

City Oilers

SLAC

G23

5:00 PM

11:00 AM

05/02/2023

Tuesday

Cape Town

Al Ahly

G24

8:30 PM

2:30 PM

05/03/2023

Wednesday

SLAC

Petro de Luanda

G25

5:00 PM

11:00 AM

05/03/2023

Wednesday

CFV - Beira

Cape Town

G26

8:30 PM

2:30 PM

05/05/2023

Friday

City Oilers

CFV - Beira

G27

4:00 PM

10:00 AM

05/05/2023

Friday

Petro de Luanda

Al Ahly

G28

7:30 PM

1:30 PM

05/06/2023

Saturday

Cape Town

City Oilers

G29

4:00 PM

10:00 AM

05/06/2023

Saturday

Al Ahly

SLAC

G30

7:30 PM

1:30 PM

PLAYOFFS

QUARTERFINALS

05/21/2023

Sunday

Seed 2 Nile

Seed 3 Sahara

G31

4:00 PM

10:00 AM

05/21/2023

Sunday

Seed 1 Sahara

Seed 4 Nile

G32

7:30 PM

1:30 PM

05/22/2023

Monday

Seed 2 Sahara

Seed 3 Nile

G33

5:00 PM

11:00 AM

05/22/2023

Monday

Seed 1 Nile

Seed 4 Sahara

G34

8:30 PM

2:30 PM

SEMIFINALS

05/25/2023

Wednesday

W31

W32

G35*

5:00 PM

11:00 AM

05/25/2023

Wednesday

W33

W34

G36*

8:30 PM

2:30 PM

THIRD PLACE

05/27/2023

Friday

L35

L36

G37*

6:00 PM

12:00 PM

CHAMPIONSHIP

05/27/2023

Saturday

W35

W36

G38*

6:00 PM

12:00 PM

G35* - G38* => highest-seeded team will be home team

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Contact:
Edwin Eselem 
BAL
+221 78 615 42 87
EEselem@theBAL.com

About the BAL:
The Basketball Africa League (BAL), a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the NBA, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that completed its second season in May 2022.  Headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, the BAL builds on the foundation of club competitions FIBA Africa has organized across the continent and marks the NBA’s first collaboration to operate a league outside North America.  Fans can follow the BAL (@theBAL) on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube and register their interest in receiving more information at BAL.NBA.com.