Basketball Africa League (BAL), one of the most anticipated events in Rwanda this year, gets underway at the iconic Kigali Arena on May 16 – bringing together Africa’s giants at club level. The continental showpiece, the first professional league to be run by NBA outside North America, will be played under strict Covid-19 guidelines. All twelve participating teams are supposed to have arrived in Kigali by May 7. To hold a successful and safe tournament, organisers have established robust health and safety protocols based on guidance from the World Health Organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control, with advice from public health officials and medical experts. From Weekend Sport’s Damas Sikubwabo, here is what you need to know about the competition and how the preventive guidelines will be observed. Team arrivals All clubs’ delegations will take a mandatory Covid-19 test upon arrival at the Kigali International Airport and immediately enter a four-day quarantine at Radisson Blue Hotel. The BAL officials will be accommodated at Kigali Marriott Hotel. After the quarantine, players will start individual training at the hotel’s facilities for three days before they are allowed to start training sessions in groups until the tournament begins. Groups to be announced next week This publication has learned that BAL organisers will next week announce three groups from which the 12 teams will be competing. Each group will comprise four clubs. The competition will feature a total of 26 games, including 18 in the group stage. The top two teams from each group and two best second runners-up will advance to the playoffs phase, which will be a single knockout format in the subsequent three rounds; quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the third-place game and the final. To minimise the risk of contracting or spreading the Covid-19 virus, all games will take place at the state-of-the-art Kigali Arena, from May 16 to 30. Will fans be allowed in? Weekend Sport understands that the organisers are looking at possibilities of allowing a limited number of fans to attend the games under strict guidelines. But, for the larger audience, the national broadcaster has secured rights to show the games live. Competing teams The two-week tournament will see 12 clubs from 12 different African countries rub shoulders in Kigali. The competition’s inaugural season was initially due last year but it was postponed due to the global pandemic. Patriots basketball club will represent the host country, Rwanda, in the tournament, and will be seeking to make the most of home advantage. Other teams: Ferroviario de Maputo (Mozambique), GNBC (Madagascar), Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria), Petro de Luanda (Angola), AS Douanes (Senegal), AS Police (Mali), FAP (Cameroon), Union Sportive Monastir (Tunisia), AS Sale (Morocco), GSP (Algeria), Zamalek (Egypt).
