Basketball Africa League Announces 12 Teams and Game Schedule for League’s 2022 Season Tipping Off March 5

2022 BAL Season Opener Will Feature Senegal’s Dakar Université Club (DUC) Taking on Guinea’s Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (S.L.A.C) at the Dakar Arena on Saturday, March 5 at 5:30 p.m. GMT; Fans Can Visit NBA.com/BAL to Register Their Interest in Tickets.

The Basketball Africa League (BAL) announced the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries that will compete in the 2022 BAL season (https://bit.ly/3oAYOFz), which will tip off Saturday, March 5 at the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal, and will include stops in Cairo, Egypt and Kigali, Rwanda.  In the season opener, Senegal’s Dakar Université Club (DUC) will take on Guinea’s Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (S.L.A.C) at 5:30 p.m. GMT in the first of 38 games taking place across three cities over three months in 2022.

The 12 teams, which include defending BAL Champion Zamalek (Egypt) and four other teams returning from the inaugural BAL season in 2021, will 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 5-15, and the Nile Conference’s group phase will take place at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 9-19.  The top four teams from each conference will qualify for the BAL Playoffs, which will feature a single-elimination tournament and Finals at Kigali Arena from May 21-28.  The 2022 BAL season will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories.  Fans can register their interest in tickets and in receiving more information at NBA.com/BAL.

SAHARA CONFERENCE	NILE CONFERENCE
AS Salé (Association Sportive Salé)* – Morocco	BC Espoir Fukash – Democratic Republic of the Congo
DUC (Dakar Université Club) – Senegal	Cape Town Tigers – South Africa
Ferroviário da Beira or CFV – Beira (Clube Ferroviário da Beira) – Mozambique	Cobra Sport (Cobra Sports Club) – South Sudan
REG (Rwanda Energy Group) (REG) – Rwanda	F.A.P (Forces Armeés et Police Basketball)* – Cameroon
S.L.A.C (Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club) – Guinea	Petro de Luanda (Clube Atlético Petroleos de Luanda)* – Angola
US Monastir (Union Sportive Monastirienne)* – Tunisia	Zamalek* (2021 BAL Champion) – Egypt

*Returning team from inaugural BAL season

“We are thrilled to welcome seven new teams and four new countries into the second season of the BAL,” said BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall.  “Defending Champion Zamalek will anchor the five returning teams, after representing the BAL in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup this month in Cairo.  The competition to bring home the 2022 BAL Championship Trophy is heating up, and we are excited that more fans will have an opportunity to watch the games live in three world-class African cities.  To BAL fans across the continent and around the world – Game On!”

“We are excited for the tip off of this highly anticipated season two of the BAL,” said FIBA Africa and BAL Board President Anibal Manave.  “The Road to BAL 2022, which was successfully completed at the end of last year, provided fans with some exciting close games and captivating action.  We are optimistic that this expanded BAL season will be a huge success.”

Champions from the national leagues in Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia earned their participation in the 2022 BAL season by winning their respective national leagues.  The remaining six teams, which come from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Mozambique, South Africa and South Sudan, secured their participation through the Road to BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Regional Office Africa across the continent from October to December 2021.

New Fortress Energy (NFE), Rwanda Development Board (RDB), NIKE, Jordan Brand and Wilson will return as BAL Foundational Partners.  The league’s roster of world-class marketing partners also includes Flutterwave and Hennessy.

On May 30, Zamalek defeated US Monastir 76-63 to win the inaugural BAL Championship (https://bit.ly/3oAWVZw), which took place at Kigali Arena and was broadcast to fans in 215 countries and territories in 15 languages.

Below is the complete 2022 BAL season game schedule.  Additional details about the 2022 BAL season will be announced in the coming weeks.

DATE	DAY	HOME	AWAY	GROUP	LOCAL TIME	ET
SAHARA CONFERENCE
3/5/2022	Saturday	DUC	S.L.A.C	G1	5:30pm	12:30pm
3/6/2022	Sunday	REG	AS Salé	G2	2:00pm	9:00am
3/6/2022	Sunday	US Monastir	CFV – Beira	G3	5:30pm	12:30pm
3/8/2022	Tuesday	S.L.A.C	US Monastir	G4	5:30pm	12:30pm
3/8/2022	Tuesday	CFV – Beira	DUC	G5	9:00pm	4:00pm
3/9/2022	Wednesday	REG	S.L.A.C	G6	5:30pm	12:30pm
3/9/2022	Wednesday	AS Salé	CFV – Beira	G7	9:00pm	4:00pm
3/11/2022	Friday	AS Salé	US Monastir	G8	5:30pm	12:30pm
3/11/2022	Friday	DUC	REG	G9	9:00pm	4:00pm
3/12/2022	Saturday	S.L.A.C	CFV – Beira	G10	2:00pm	9:00am
3/12/2022	Saturday	US Monastir	DUC	G11	5:30pm	12:30pm
3/14/2022	Monday	REG	US Monastir	G12	5:30pm	1:30pm
3/14/2022	Monday	AS Salé	S.L.A.C	G13	9:00pm	5:00pm
3/15/2022	Tuesday	CFV – Beira	REG	G14	5:30pm	1:30pm
3/15/2022	Tuesday	DUC	AS Salé	G15	9:00pm	5:00pm
NILE CONFERENCE
4/9/2022	Saturday	Zamalek	Cobra Sport	G16	8:00pm	2:00pm
4/10/2022	Sunday	F.A.P	Espoir Fukash	G17	6:30pm	12:30pm
4/10/2022	Sunday	Cape Town	Petro de Luanda	G18	10:00pm	4:00pm
4/12/2022	Tuesday	Petro de Luanda	Cobra Sport	G19	6:30pm	12:30pm
4/12/2022	Tuesday	Cape Town	Zamalek	G20	10:00pm	4:00pm
4/13/2022	Wednesday	Cobra Sport	Espoir Fukash	G21	6:30pm	12:30pm
4/13/2022	Wednesday	F.A.P	Cape Town	G22	10:00pm	4:00pm
4/15/2022	Friday	Cobra Sport	Cape Town	G23	6:30pm	12:30pm
4/15/2022	Friday	Zamalek	Petro de Luanda	G24	10:00pm	4:00pm
4/16/2022	Saturday	Petro de Luanda	F.A.P	G25	6:30pm	12:30pm
4/16/2022	Saturday	Espoir Fukash	Zamalek	G26	10:00pm	4:00pm
4/18/2022	Monday	Petro de Luanda	Espoir Fukash	G27	6:30pm	12:30pm
4/18/2022	Monday	F.A.P	Cobra Sport	G28	10:00pm	4:00pm
4/19/2022	Tuesday	Espoir Fukash	Cape Town	G29	6:30pm	12:30pm
4/19/2022	Tuesday	Zamalek	F.A.P	G30	10:00pm	4:00pm
PLAYOFFS
QUARTER-FINALS
5/21/2022	Saturday	Seed 1 Sahara	Seed 4 Nile	G31	1:30pm	7:30am
5/21/2022	Saturday	Seed 2 Nile	Seed 3 Sahara	G32	6:00pm	12:00pm
5/22/2022	Sunday	Seed 1 Nile	Seed 4 Sahara	G33	1:30pm	7:30am
5/22/2022	Sunday	Seed 2 Sahara	Seed 3 Nile	G34	6:00pm	12:00pm
SEMIFINALS
5/25/2022	Wednesday	W31	W32	G35*	6:00pm	12:00pm
5/25/2022	Wednesday	W33	W34	G36*	9:30pm	3:30pm
THIRD PLACE
5/27/2022	Friday	L35	L36	G37*	6:00pm	12:00pm
CHAMPIONSHIP
5/28/2022	Saturday	W35	W36	G38*	6:00pm	12:00pm

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

February 09, 2022