SA to host Basketball Africa League playoffs and finals in 2025

Basketball may not be among the top five major sports in South Africa yet, but impressive attendance when the Basketball Africa League (BAL) was held for the first time in South Africa in March was good enough to convince the organisers to let the country host the playoffs and finals in June 2025.

BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall announced on Thursday the Sunbet Arena in Pretoria would be the new host city for the finals, replacing Kigali, Rwanda.

The playoffs and finals of the fifth edition of the tournament will be played from June 6 to 14.

Gallo Fall indicated after the success of the Kalahari Conference in March that South Africa was always fancied to host the playoffs and finals for the BAL in 2025, despite increasing competition from other African nations, most notably Nigeria.

He said South Africa met all the criteria after a prosperous week in Tshwane, with sold-out weekend matches and enthusiasm for the sport.

“Last season we had a good and positive experience when the Kalahari Conference was hosted at the Sunbet Arena in Pretoria. There was energy from the crowd.

“Basketball is not a popular sport in South Africa, but the size of the crowds impressed.

“We had the opportunity to take the finals to another country, but it’s part of our goal to continue to expand our footprint in South Africa.”

The 2025 BAL season will feature the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries playing 48 games. 

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 to December 2024.

South Africa may have a team in that five, participating in BAL 5.

The Cape Town Tigers, who placed fourth last season, did not make the cut as they withdrew from the Basketball SA National Club Championships, meaning they forfeited their eligibility to qualify for the 2025 BAL.

The country’s hope for a place in BAL 5 lies with Gauteng’s MBB Basketball, who were crowned SA Champs in August.

They will square off for a spot with Kenya’s Nairobi City Thunder, Uganda’s City Oilers, Burundi’s Urunani, Bravehearts Basketball of Zambia, Matero Magic of Malawi and South Sudan’s Fox Basketball in the BAL Elite 16 tournament from November 26 to December 3 in Kenya.

The Moroccan city of Rabat has also been added as a new host city, with 2024 Nile Conference hosts Cairo removed.

The BAL season will begin with the Kalahari Conference group phase at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat from April 5 to 13.

From there, the caravan will move to the Sahara Conference group phase at Dakar Arena in Senegal (April 26 to May 4), and then to BK Arena for the Nile Conference in Kigali from May 17 to 25.

Eight teams from across the three conferences will qualify for the playoffs in Pretoria, which will begin on June 6 with the 2025 BAL finals on June 14.

Angola’s Petro de Luanda became the first sub-Saharan African team to win the BAL finals this year after previous champions came from Egypt and Tunisia

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