Road to BAL

Road to BAL
Organising body	FIBA Africa
Founded	2019;4 years ago
First season	2021
Confederation	FIBA Africa
Number of teams	26; (2023 season)
Current champions	West Division:; Cape Town Tigers (2nd title); East Division: ; Bangui Sporting Club (1st title) ; (2024)
Most championships	Cape Town Tigers (2 titles)
TV partners	YouTube ; Courtside 1891
Website	Link
	2024 BAL qualification

Last updated November 29, 2023

The Road to BAL, also known as the BAL Qualifying Tournaments, are the qualifying tournaments of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). While the main tournament is co-organised by FIBA and the NBA, the organization of the qualifiers is completely done by FIBA. The first qualifying rounds were held on 16 October 2019 during the 2021 BAL qualification.

Format

The national champions of each national federation (associated with FIBA Africa) can sign up for the BAL qualifiers.

In the inaugural edition, a total of 31 teams^[1] from 31 countries participate in the qualifying tournaments to determine which six teams will play in the 2020 BAL regular season, along with six directly placed six teams.

The qualifying tournaments are divided into the first round and the Elite 16; teams are also divided into the East Division and the West Division. Out of each division, three teams advance to the main tournament.

Venues

The qualifying rounds are usually played in groups of 4 to 6 teams that play each other once in a venue in a predetermined location. 13 arenas in 12 different countries have hosted a stage of the BAL qualifiers. The following arenas have hosted at least one group stage:


Venue	City	Country	Seasons hosted
Ellis Park Arena	Johannesburg	South Africa	1 (2023)
Wembley Stadium	Johannesburg	South Africa	2 (2021, 2022)
Palais des Sports de Treichville	Abidjan	Ivory Coast	1 (2023)
Palais du 29 Juillet	Niamey	Niger	1 (2023)
Palais des Sports Mahamasina	Antananarivo	Madagascar	2 (2021, 2023)
Palais des Sports du 28 Septembre	Conakry	Guinea	1 (2022)
National Indoor Stadium	Dar es Salaam	Tanzania	2 (2022, 2023)
Kigali Arena	Kigali	Rwanda	1 (2021)
Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex	Yaoundé	Cameroon	3 (2021–2023)
Palais des Sports Salamatou Maïga	Bamako	Mali	1 (2021)
Palais des Sports de Cotonou	Cotonou	Benin	1 (2021)
Palais des Sports de Libreville	Libreville	Gabon	1 (2021)

Results

East Division

Ed.	Year	Finals host	First place game			Third place game			Num. teams	Ref.
Ed.	Year	Finals host	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place	Num. teams	Ref.
1	2021	Kigali	Patriots BBC	94–63	GNBC	Ferroviário de Maputo	74–57	City Oilers	16	^[2]^[3]
2	2022	Johannesburg	Ferroviário da Beira	91–65	Cobra Sport	Cape Town Tigers	20–0^{[lower-alpha 1]}	New Star	10^{[lower-alpha 2]}	^[4]
3	2023		Cape Town Tigers	81–71	Ferroviário da Beira	City Oilers	71–62	Urunani	10^{[lower-alpha 3]}	^[5]^[6]
4	2024		Cape Town Tigers	70–68	City Oilers	Dynamo	79–78	COSPN	14	^[7]^[8]

West Division

Ed.	Year	Finals host	First place game			Third place game			Num. teams	Ref.
Ed.	Year	Finals host	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place	Num. teams	Ref.
1	2021	Yaoundé	GS Pétroliers	92–88	FAP	AS Police	71–69	ABC Fighters	13	^[9]^[10]
2	2022	Yaoundé	FAP	81–34	SLAC	Espoir Fukash	93–87 (OT)	AS Police	8^{[lower-alpha 4]}	^[11]
3	2023	Abidjan	ABC Fighters	81–70	SLAC	Stade Malien	62–59	Bangui Sporting Club	10^{[lower-alpha 5]}	^[12]
4	2024	Yaoundé	Bangui Sporting Club	93–90	FUS Rabat	Al Ahly Benghazi	93–84	FAP	9	^[13]^[14]

Performance by country

Thus far, 12 different clubs from 12 different country have successfully qualified for the BAL. As of the 2023 season, Nigeria, Rwanda, Egypt, Senegal and Tunisia are given a bye for the qualifiers as they qualify directly for the BAL.^[5] In 2021, Morocco was also given an automatic spot.


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	South Africa	2	0	1	3
2	Mozambique	1	1	1	3
3	Cameroon	1	1	0	2
4	Algeria	1	0	0	1
	Central African Republic	1	0	0	1
	Ivory Coast	1	0	0	1
	Rwanda	1	0	0	1
8	Guinea	0	2	0	2
9	Morocco	0	1	1	2
9	Uganda	0	1	1	2
11	Madagascar	0	1	0	1
11	South Sudan	0	1	0	1
13	Mali	0	0	2	2
14	Burundi	0	0	1	1
	DR Congo	0	0	1	1
	Libya	0	0	1	1
Totals (16 entries)		8	8	9	25

All-time participants

The following is a list of clubs who have played in the BAL Qualifying Tournaments at any time since its formation in 2019, or will play in the upcoming season.

Defunct	Defunct teams
1st	Champions
2nd	Runners-up
3rd	Third place
SF	Semi-finalists
E16	Elite 16
R1	First round
W	Withdrew

Team	21	22	23	24	Total seasons	Times qualified
Team					Total seasons	Times qualified
GS Pétroliers		–	–	–	1	1
WA Boufarik	–	W	–	–	–	–
Dolphins	R1	–	–	R1	2	–
ASPAC	R1	E16	–	–	2	–
Elan Coton	–	–	R1	R1	2	–
AOA	–	W	–	–	–	–
Abeilles	W	–	–	–	–	–
Tondema	–	R1	–	–	1	–
Bangui Sporting Club	–	–	4th	–	2	–
Lamantins	–	–	–	R1^{[lower-alpha 6]}	1	–
Tempo	–	–	W	–	–	–
Djabal	–	–	R1	–	1	–
Usoni	R1	–	–	–	1	–
Ushindzi	–	–	–	R1	1	–
ABC (Abidjan)	4th	–		E16	3	1
SOA	–	E16	–	–	1	–
FAP	2nd		E16	–	3	1
Mazembe	E16	–	–	–	1	–
Espoir Fukash	–		–	–	1	1
Vita Club	–	–	W	–	1	–
Prédio	–	W	–	–	0	–
Manga BB	E16	–	–	–	1	–
Espoir	–	–	R1	–	2	–
SLAC	R1				3	2
Virgen María de África	R1	–	–	–	1	–
Nueva Era	–	–	E16	–	1	–
Malabo Kings	–	W	–	–	0	–
Braves of Customs	R1	–	–	–	1	–
Reformers of Prisons	–	–	W	–	0	–
Hawassa City	R1	W		–	1	–
City Oilers	4th	E16			4	2
AS Police		4th	–	–	1	1
Stade Malien	–	–		W	2	1
ABC (Army)	–	–	R1	–	1	–
JKT	E16	–	–	–	1	–
Kurasini Heat	–	E16	–	–	1	–
Cobra Sport	E16		W	–	2	–
Dynamo	R1	–	–		2	–
New Star	–	4th	–	–	1	–
Urunani	–	–	4th	–	1	–
Jozi Nuggets	R1	–	–	–	1	–
Cape Town Tigers	–				3	3
Ferroviário de Maputo		–	–	–	1	1
Ferroviário da Beira	–		2nd	E16	3	2
Roche-Bois Warriors	–	R1	W		1	–
Lions	R1	–	–	–	1	–
Beau Vallon Heat	R1	–	–	R1	2	–
Al-Nasr Benghazi	E16	–	–	–	1	–
AS Salé	–	W	E16	–	1	–
ASCUT	–	W	–	–	–	–
COSPN	–	–	E16	4th	2	–
GNBC		–	–	–	1	1
Brave Hearts	–	R1	–	W	2	–
KPA	E16	–	E16	R1	2	–
Ulinzi Warriors	–	E16	–	–	1	–
Matero Magic	–	E16	E16	–	2	–
UNZA Pacers	E16	–	–	–	1	–
Nigelec	E16	E16	R1	W	3	–
NPA Pythons	R1	–	–	–	1	–
Patriots		–	–	–	1	1
JBC	–	–	–	E16	1	–
Mercenaries	R1	W	–	–	1	–
Vixens-Foxes	–	–	W	–	1	–
NBA Academy Africa			E16	E16	2	Ineligible

All-time record by club

As of 8 October 2022.

Club	Years	Pld	W	L	4th	3rd	RU	W
FAP	3	17	13	4	–	–	1	1
ABC	3	17	11	6	1	–	–	1
Patriots	1	9	9	0	–	–	–	1
Ferroviário de Maputo	1	10	8	2	–	1	–	–
AS Police	2	14	7	7	1	1	–	–
City Oilers	2	11	7	4	1	–	–	–
SLAC	3	14	6	8	–	–	2	–
GNBC	1	9	6	3	–	–	1	–
GS Pétroliers	1	8	6	2	–	–	–	1
Stade Malien	1	8	6	2	–	1	–	–
KPA	1	7	6	1	–	–	–	–
Ferroviário da Beira	1	7	6	1	–	–	–	1
Nigelec	3	17	5	12	–	–	–	–
UNZA Pacers	1	8	5	3	–	–	–	–
Cape Town Tigers	1	7	5	2	–	1	–	–
Bangui Sporting Club	1	6	5	1	1	–	–	–
Cobra Sport	2	13	4	9	–	–	1	–
New Star	1	6	4	2	1	–	–	–
Manga BB	1	6	4	2	–	–	–	–
Espoir Fukash	1	6	3	3	–	1	–	–
Al-Nasr Benghazi	1	3	3	3	–	–	–	–
Mercenaries	1	5	3	2	–	–	–	–
Elan Coton	1	6	2	4	–	–	–	–
JKT	1	7	2	5	–	–	–	–
ASPAC	2	6	2	4	–	–	–	–
SOA	1	4	2	2	–	–	–	–
Matero Magic	3	8	1	7	–	–	–	–
Mazembe	1	6	1	5	–	–	–	–
Nueva Era	1	5	1	4	–	–	–	–
Tondema	1	5	1	4	–	–	–	–
Jozi Nuggets	1	5	1	4	–	–	–	–
Lions	1	5	1	4	–	–	–	–
Dolphins	1	5	1	4	–	–	–	–
Dynamo	1	4	1	3	–	–	–	–
Braves of Customs	1	4	1	3	–	–	–	–
Ulinzi Warriors	1	4	1	3	–	–	–	–
NPA Pythons	1	4	1	3	–	–	–	–
Beau Vallon Heat	1	4	1	3	–	–	–	–
AS Salé	1	3	1	2	–	–	–	–
ABC	1	3	1	2	–	–	–	–
Hawassa City	1	4	0	4	–	–	–	–
Usoni	1	4	0	4	–	–	–	–
Virgen María de África	1	3	0	3	–	–	–	–
Roche-Bois Warriors	1	3	0	3	–	–	–	–
Tondema	1	2	0	2	–	–	–	–
Brave Hearts	1	2	0	2	–	–	–	–
Djabal Iconi	1	2	0	2	–	–	–	–
Espoir	1	2	0	2	–	–	–	–

Records

Team records

Best performance by record:
- Patriots in the 2019 qualification (9–0)
Largest win
- 96 points difference (Ferroviário da Beira 132–36 Roche-Bois Warriors) on October 22, 2021
- 83 points difference (Djabal Iconi 37–120 KPA) on October 22, 2022
- 77 points difference (KPA 131–54 Usoni Club) on November 1, 2019
Most points scored in a game
- 131 by KPA (131–54 vs. Usoni Club) on November 1, 2019
Fewest points scored in a game
- 36 by Roche-Bois Warriors (vs. Ferroviário da Beira) on October 30, 2019

Individual records

Most points scored in a game
- 45 by Baraka Athumani, JKT (vs. Dynamo) on October 20, 2019
- 40 by Falando Jones, City Oilers (vs. Cape Town Tigers) on November 26, 2022
- 39 by Mohamed Ali Halder, Al-Nasr (vs. FAP). on November 26, 2019
Most rebounds in a game
- 26 by Michael Mukumbutaa, Lions Windhoek (vs. UNZA Pacers) on October 27, 2019
- 22 by Ameh Eric Ejeh, ASPAC (vs. Nigelec) on October 30, 2019
Most assists in a game
- 12 by Stephane Mshana, JKT (vs. Dynamo) on October 20, 2019
- 12 by Solo Diabate, Al Ahly Benghazi (vs. FAP) on November 5, 2023^[15]
Most steals in a game
- 9 by Abdoulaye Harouna, Nigelec (vs. FAP) on November 28, 2019
Most blocks in a game
- 9 by Frank Kamndoh Betoudji, Virunga (vs. FAP) on October 9, 2023^[15]
Most 3-point field goals made in a game
- 9 by Timothy Kwaor, Nigelec (vs. NPA Pythons) on November 1, 2019

Notes

↑ Players of New Star tested positive for COVID-19 and thus were given the automatic loss.
↑ In the 2022 BAL qualification, initially 26 teams would participate but six teams withdrew.
↑ In 2023, 21 teams participated after 8 teams withdrew.
↑ In the 2022 BAL qualification, initially 26 teams would participate but six teams withdrew.
↑ In 2023, 21 teams participated after 8 teams withdrew.
↑ Lamantins forfeited during their first game and were subsequently disqualified in the 2024 qualifying tournament.

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References

↑ "African clubs to compete in qualifying tournaments for the Basketball Africa League confirmed". FIBA Africa. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
↑ "Patriots finish BAL Qualifiers on high note". FIBA.basketball. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
↑ "Ferroviario de Maputo book last Basketball Africa League slot". FIBA.basketball. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
↑ "Cape Town Tigers qualify for BAL after New Star forfeit". ESPN.com. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
1 2 "African clubs to compete in 2022 Road to BAL and Elite 16 Qualifying Tournaments confirmed". FIBA.basketball. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
↑ "City Oilers overcome Urunani to punch last ticket to the Basketball Africa League 2023". FIBA.basketball. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
↑ "Cape Town Tigers crowned East Division Elite 16 champions". FIBA.basketball. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
↑ "Dynamo outlast COSPN, secure last BAL ticket". FIBA.basketball. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
↑ "Algeria's GSP clinch the 'Elite 16' West Division top spot". FIBA.basketball. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
↑ "AS Police secure maiden Basketball Africa League ticket". FIBA.basketball. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
↑ "Espoir Fukash beat AS Police in overtime, qualify to BAL 2022". FIBA.basketball. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
↑ "Stade Malien pick last ticket from West Division for BAL 2023". FIBA.basketball. 19 November 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
↑ "Al Ahly Benghazi pick last ticket from the West Division to the BAL 2024 season". FIBA.basketball. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
↑ "Bangui win West Division Elite 16". FIBA.basketball. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
1 2 "Players statistics of the Africa Champions Clubs ROAD TO B.A.L. 2024 2023". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 28 November 2023.

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[4] Players of New Star tested positive for COVID-19 and thus were given the automatic loss.

[5] In the 2022 BAL qualification, initially 26 teams would participate but six teams withdrew.

[7] In 2023, 21 teams participated after 8 teams withdrew.

[14] In the 2022 BAL qualification, initially 26 teams would participate but six teams withdrew.

[16] In 2023, 21 teams participated after 8 teams withdrew.

[20] Lamantins forfeited during their first game and were subsequently disqualified in the 2024 qualifying tournament.

[teams-1] "African clubs to compete in qualifying tournaments for the Basketball Africa League confirmed". FIBA Africa. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

[2] "Patriots finish BAL Qualifiers on high note". FIBA.basketball. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2023.

[3] "Ferroviario de Maputo book last Basketball Africa League slot". FIBA.basketball. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2023.

[6] "Cape Town Tigers qualify for BAL after New Star forfeit". ESPN.com. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.

[:0-8] 1 2 "African clubs to compete in 2022 Road to BAL and Elite 16 Qualifying Tournaments confirmed". FIBA.basketball. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.

[9] "City Oilers overcome Urunani to punch last ticket to the Basketball Africa League 2023". FIBA.basketball. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.

[10] "Cape Town Tigers crowned East Division Elite 16 champions". FIBA.basketball. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.

[11] "Dynamo outlast COSPN, secure last BAL ticket". FIBA.basketball. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.

[12] "Algeria's GSP clinch the 'Elite 16' West Division top spot". FIBA.basketball. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2023.

[13] "AS Police secure maiden Basketball Africa League ticket". FIBA.basketball. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2023.

[15] "Espoir Fukash beat AS Police in overtime, qualify to BAL 2022". FIBA.basketball. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2023.

[17] "Stade Malien pick last ticket from West Division for BAL 2023". FIBA.basketball. 19 November 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.

[18] "Al Ahly Benghazi pick last ticket from the West Division to the BAL 2024 season". FIBA.basketball. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.

[19] "Bangui win West Division Elite 16". FIBA.basketball. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.

[:1-21] 1 2 "Players statistics of the Africa Champions Clubs ROAD TO B.A.L. 2024 2023". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 28 November 2023.

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