Basketball Champions League Asia

Basketball Champions League Asia

Organising body	FIBA Asia
Founded	1981;44 years ago (1981)
First season	1981
Region	Asia
Number of teams	8
Promotion to	FIBA Intercontinental Cup
Current champions	Al Riyadi (3rd title) (2024)
Most championships	Al Riyadi Sagesse (3 titles each)
TV partners	YouTube (online streaming)
2025 Basketball Champions League Asia-East

The Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia), formerly the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, ^[1] is an annual continental club men's basketball competition organised by FIBA Asia. It is the highest level club competition for basketball in Asia.

Introduced in 1981, as the Asian Basketball Club Championship, the competition rebranded in 2004 to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup. In 2024, the tournament was renamed as the Basketball Champions League Asia. ^[2]

Al Riyadi and Sagesse from Lebanon are the most successful teams in the history of the competition with three championships each. Lebanese and Iranian clubs have won the most titles with a total of six among teams from each of these countries.

History

The competition was first organised by the Asian Basketball Confederation in 1981, when the inaugural tournament was hosted in Hong Kong. The first-ever champions were the Bayi Rockets from China. In 1995, the name of the competition was changed to the ABC Champions Cup. After the ABC became integrated in FIBA in 2004, the competition was rebranded as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.

In the 1990s, FIBA announced plans to expand the Intercontinental Cup with the teams from the BCL Asia, Basketball Africa League (BAL), NBL, and the NBA, at some point in the future. ^{[3] [4]}

In 2024, it was announced that the tournament will be renamed as the Basketball Champions League Asia, a name in line with other continental competitions in the Americas and Europe. ^[2]

Al Riyadi Club Beirut and Sagesse from Lebanon are the most successful clubs in the history of the competition, having won three titles each. Clubs from Lebanon and Iran have the most combined titles, with a total of six each.

In 2025, the BCL Asia qualifying rounds renamed as BCL Asia-East. ^[5]

Qualification

As of the 2024 season, teams can qualify for the BCL Asia directly through their national leagues, through the FIBA West Asia Super League or through the qualifying rounds.

Allocated spots in the Basketball Champions League Asia

Method	Country	League
Direct Qualification	China	Chinese Basketball Association
	South Korea	Korean Basketball League
	Japan	B.League
	Philippines	Philippine Basketball Association
FIBA Zonal Leagues	Central, West Asia and Gulf	FIBA West Asia Super League champions
		FIBA West Asia Super League runners-up
BCL Asia-East	East and Southeast Asia	Winners of the BCL Asia-East
		Runners-up of the BCL Asia-East

Summary

Champions

Year	Hosts	Champions	Score	Runners-up	Third Place
1981	Hong Kong	Bayi Rockets	No playoffs	Nippon Kokan	Apcor
1984	Ipoh	Northern Cement	82–56	Bayi Rockets	Kuang Hua
1988	Jakarta	Swift-PABL	84–69	Liaoning Hunters	Samsung Electronics
1990	Jakarta	Liaoning Hunters	No playoffs	Bank of Korea	Kazma
1992	Bangkok	Kia Motors	No playoffs	Liaoning Hunters	Kazma
1995	Kuala Lumpur	Andok's	101–82	Petronas	Kia Motors
1996	Manila	Hapee Toothpaste	77–74	Isuzu Lynx	Guangdong Winnerway
1997	Jakarta	Regal	64–59	Kia Motors	Aspac
1998	Kuala Lumpur	Beijing Hanwei	71–70	Regal	Al-Riyadi
1999	Beirut	Sagesse	84–71	Liaoning Hunters	Petronas
2000	Beirut	Sagesse	55–52	Al-Ittihad	Al-Manama
2001	Dubai	Al-Ittihad	103–101(OT)	Al-Rayyan	Al-Wahda
2002	Kuala Lumpur	Al-Rayyan	92–78	Al-Ittihad	Al-Wahda
2003	Kuala Lumpur	Al-Wahda	96–63	Al-Rayyan	Sangmu Phoenix
2004	Sharjah	Sagesse	72–70	Al-Wahda	Al-Rayyan
2005	Quezon City	Al-Rayyan	83–76	Fastlink	Sagesse
2006	Kuwait City	Fastlink	94–69	Al-Jalaa Aleppo	Al-Rayyan
2007	Tehran	Saba Battery Tehran	83–75	Al-Jalaa Aleppo	Al-Rayyan
2008	Kuwait City	Saba Battery Tehran	82–75	Al-Rayyan	Al-Wasl
2009	Jakarta	Mahram Tehran	78–68	Zain	Al-Riyadi
2010	Doha	Mahram Tehran	93–73	Al-Riyadi
2011	Pasig	Al Riyadi	91–82	Mahram Tehran	Al-Rayyan
2012	Beirut	No title awarded	Not held	Al-Riyadi Mahram Tehran	Duhok
2013	Amman	Foolad Mahan Isfahan	84–74	Al-Rayyan	ASU
2016	Chenzhou	China Kashgar	96–88	Al-Riyadi	Petrochimi Bandar Imam
2017	Chenzhou	Al Riyadi	88–59	China Kashgar	BC Astana
2018	Nonthaburi	Petrochimi Bandar Imam	68–64	Alvark Tokyo	Seoul SK Knights
2019	Nonthaburi	Alvark Tokyo	98–74	Al-Riyadi	Palayesh Naft Abadan
2020	Guangzhou [6]	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia [7]
2022	Dubai	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
2024	Dubai	Al Riyadi	122–96	Shabab Al Ahli	Hiroshima Dragonflies

Records and statistics

Main article: Basketball Champions League Asia records and statistics

Performances in the Basketball Champions League Asia by club

Club	Titles	Runners-up	Years won	Years runners-up
Al Riyadi	3	3	2011, 2017, 2024	2012, 2016, 2019
Sagesse	3	0	1999, 2000, 2004	—
Al-Rayyan	2	5	2002, 2005	2001, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2013
Mahram Tehran	2	2	2009, 2010	2011, 2012
Saba Battery Tehran	2	0	2007, 2008
Liaoning Hunters	1	3	1990	1988, 1992, 1999
Al-Ittihad	1	2	2001	2000, 2002
Zain	1	2	2006	2005, 2009
Al-Wahda	1	1	2003	2004
Kia Motors	1	1	1992	1997
Bayi Rockets	1	1	1981	1984
Regal	1	1	1997	1998
Xinjiang Flying Tigers / China Kashgar	1	1	2016	2017
Alvark Tokyo	1	1	2019	2018
Petrochimi Bandar Imam	1	0	2018	—
Northern Cement	1	0	1984	—
Swift-PABL	1	0	1988	—
Andok's	1	0	1995	—
Hapee Toothpaste	1	0	1996	—
Beijing Hanwei	1	0	1998	—
Foolad Mahan Isfahan	1	0	2013	—
Al-Jalaa Aleppo	0	2	—	2006, 2007
Petronas	0	1	—	1995
Nippon Kokan	0	1	—	1981
Bank of Korea	0	1	—	1990
Isuzu Lynx	0	1	—	1996
Shabab Al Ahli	0	1	—	2024

Titles by country

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Lebanon	6	3	4	13
2	Iran	6	2	2	10
3	China	4	5	1	10
4	Philippines	4	0	1	5
5	Qatar	2	5	4	11
6	Syria	1	3	2	6
7	Japan	1	3	1	5
8	South Korea	1	2	4	7
9	Jordan	1	2	1	4
10	Saudi Arabia	1	2	0	3
11	Hong Kong	1	1	0	2
12	Malaysia	0	1	1	2
	United Arab Emirates	0	1	1	2
14	Kuwait	0	0	2	2
15	Bahrain	0	0	1	1
	Chinese Taipei	0	0	1	1
	Indonesia	0	0	1	1
	Iraq	0	0	1	1
	Kazakhstan	0	0	1	1
Totals (19 entries)		28	30	29	87

See also

• East Asia Super League
• West Asia Super League
• Women's Basketball League Asia
• ASEAN Basketball League

References

General

• Official website of FIBA Asia

Specific

1. "22ND FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONS CUP". fibaasia.net. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012.
2. "Mongolia, Indonesia to host BCL Asia Qualifying rounds". FIBA. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
3. Esportes.Opovobr Com Copa Intercontinental, Fiba ensaia Campeonato Mundial. Archived January 17, 2019, at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese)
4. Estadao.com Pinheiros e Olympiacos começam a disputar o título da Intercontinental. (in Portuguese)
5. "FIBA Asia convenes third board meeting for 2023-27 in Jeddah". FIBA.basketball. 28 January 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
6. "FIBA Asia Board Meeting Decisions" (PDF). Basketball Association of Singapore. FIBA Asia. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
7. "Bayi Rockets soar to first FIBA Asia Champions Cup". FIBA. 22 October 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2024.