Rwanda and Morocco will for the first time host the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Conference Games, according to the BAL 2025 season schedule anounced on Thursday.
The 2025 BAL season will tip off on April 5, 2025, at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco and culminate with the finals on June 14 at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.
The development marks the first BAL games in Morocco and the first time the finals will be held in South Africa. It is also going to be the first time the finals will be hosted out of Rwanda after four consecutive seasons.
The 2025 BAL season will feature the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries playing 48 games in Rabat, Morocco; Dakar, Senegal; Kigali, Rwanda; and Pretoria, South Africa.
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The 12 teams will once again be divided into three conferences of four teams each. Each conference will play a 12-game group phase during which each team will twice face the other three teams in their respective conferences.
The Kalahari Conference will take place from April 5 –13 in Rabat and the Sahara Conference from April 26 – May 4 at the Dakar Arena in Senegal while the Nile Conference group phase is scheduled for May 17 – 25 at BK Arena in Kigali.
Eight teams from across the three conferences will qualify for the Playoffs in Pretoria, which will tip off on June 6 and conclude with the 2025 BAL Finals on June 14.
Announcing the schedule for the 2025 BAL season, Fall said, "We have seen tremendous growth over the BAL’s first four seasons in the level of on-court competition, attendance, and engagement from fans and partners in Africa and globally.”
"Our milestone fifth season will build on that momentum and further showcase the level of talent and passion for basketball in Africa, including through the first BAL games in Morocco and the first BAL Finals in South Africa.”
Commenting on the 2025 season schedule, FIBA Africa President Anibal Manave said, "The Kalahari Conference marks another expansion of the BAL into a new country on our continent, and we are more than satisfied.”
"Year after year, this competition grows, giving greater exposure to our sport and helping to elevate the level of basketball in Africa by making the league more and more competitive.”
This season, the national league champions from seven countries – Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia – will automatically qualify for the BAL.
The other five teams will qualify through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October – December 2024.
APR will represent Rwanda in the 2025 season of the BAL, having clinched the 2024 Rwanda Basketball League championship.