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List of BAL finals

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BAL Finals
Organising bodyBasketball Africa League
Founded2021
First season2021
Number of teams2
International cup(s)FIBA Intercontinental Cup
Current championsAngola Petro de Luanda (1st title)
(2024)
Most championships4 teams
(1 title each)
Websitethebal.com
2022 BAL Finals

The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is a seasonal basketball league established in 2019 and first held in 2021. The league is a joint venture by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA, and is open to national champions of FIBA Africa member countries. The finals of each season are played in a single-game format, which is held at an arena that is chosen by the BAL organisation. The winner automatically qualifies for that year's FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

The data below does not include the FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup, the predecessor of the BAL that was held between 1972 and 2019.

Zamalek won the inaugural final in 2021. Petro de Luanda are the current champions, having won the 2024 final. Four different teams have won the BAL championship so far. Egyptian teams have won the competition the most times with two wins.

Champions

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The first parentheses in the champions and runners-up columns indicate the teams' playoff seed. The second parentheses indicate the number of times that teams have appeared in an BAL Finals as well as each respective team's BAL Finals record to date.

Season Year Champions Coach Result Runners-up Coach Arena Attendance Reference
1 2021 Egypt Zamalek (2) (1, 1–0) Augustí Julbe 76–63 Tunisia US Monastir (1) (1, 0–1) Mounir Ben Slimane Kigali Arena, Kigali, Rwanda 1,789[a] [1]
2 2022 Tunisia US Monastir (2) (2, 1–1) Miodrag Perišić 83–72 Angola Petro de Luanda (2) (1, 0–1) José Neto BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda (2) 10,000 [2][3][4]
3 2023 Egypt Al Ahly (2) (1, 1–0) Augustí Julbe 80–65 Senegal AS Douanes (2) (1, 0–1) Pabi Gueye BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda (3) 7,532 [5]
4 2024 Angola Petro de Luanda (6) (2, 1–1) Sergio Valdeolmillos 107–94 Libya Al Ahly Ly (7) (1, 0–1) Ivan Jeremić BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda (4) 6,404 [6]
Upcoming finals
5 2025 SunBet Arena, Pretoria, South Africa

Performances

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Performance by club

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Performances in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) by club
Club Titles Runners-up Years won Years runners-up
Tunisia US Monastir 1 1 2022 2021
Angola Petro de Luanda 1 1 2024 2022
Egypt Al Ahly 1 0 2023
Egypt Zamalek 1 0 2021
Senegal AS Douanes 0 1 2023
Libya Al Ahly Ly 0 1 2024

Performance by country

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Teams from three nations have been to a BAL final, and teams from two countries have won the competition thus far.

Performances in finals by nation
Nation Titles Runners-up Total
Egypt Egypt 2 0 2
Tunisia Tunisia 1 1 2
Angola Angola 1 1 2
Senegal Senegal 0 1 1
Libya Libya 0 1 1

Performance by head coach

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Augustí Julbe is the only coach to have won two BAL titles
Club Titles Runners-up Years won Years runners-up
Spain Augustí Julbe 2 0 2021, 2023
Serbia Miodrag Perišić 1 0 2022
Spain Sergio Valdeolmillos 1 0 2024
Tunisia Mounir Ben Slimane 0 1 2021
Brazil José Neto 0 1 2022
Senegal Pabi Guèye 0 1 2023
Serbia Ivan Jeremić 0 1 2024


Finals hosted by arena

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The finals are played in a pre-determined venue, from 2021 to 2023 this was the BK Arena (formerly the Kigali Arena) in Kigali as the BAL agreed with the Rwandan Ministry of Sports. Later, the BAL and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) agreed to host the finals of 2024, 2026 and 2028 as well.[7]

Arena Location Finals Years
BK Arena[b] Rwanda Kigali, Rwanda 6 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026, 2028
SunBet Arena South Africa Pretoria, South Africa 1 2025

Top scorer

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Clubs denoted in italics lost the finals in the given year.

Year Top scorer Club Points Ref.
2021 Nigeria Michael Fakuade Egypt Zamalek 15
2022 Angola Gerson Gonçalves Angola Petro de Luanda 28
2023 South Sudan Nuni Omot Egypt Al Ahly 22
2024 United States Nick Faust Angola Petro de Luanda 24 [8]
South Sudan Majok Deng Libya Al Ahly Ly

Players with multiple BAL titles

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No. of championships Player Position Seasons Championship teams Ref.
Played Winning Percentage
2 Ivory Coast Solo Diabate G 4 50% Zamalek (2021)
US Monastir (2022)
[9]
Nigeria Michael Fakuade F 2 100% Zamalek (2021)
Al Ahly (2023)
[9]

Notes

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  1. ^ The attendance in the 2021 finals was limited due to government regulations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, as social distancing was enforced.
  2. ^ The BK Arena was known as Kigali Arena until 2021.

References

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  1. ^ "Egypt's Zamalek wins inaugural Basketball Africa League". www.nba.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  2. ^ "US Monastir are the 2022 Basketball Africa League Champions". The BAL. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Kings in the North: Tunisia's US Monastir crowned BAL champions". ESPN.com. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  4. ^ "BAL Announces Teams, Conferences & Game Schedule Ahead of 2023 Season Tipping off March 11th". BAL. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Al Ahly are the 2023 BAL champions". The BAL. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Petro de Luanda are the 2024 BAL Champions". The BAL. 1 June 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Basketball Africa League and Rwanda Development Board extend to play games | Times Aerospace". www.timesaerospace.aero. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  8. ^ "LiveStats". geniussports.com. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b "FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE BAL SEASON 3". The BAL. Retrieved 6 June 2024.