As the inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL) edges closer, teams have started to jet in ahead of the much-anticipated showpiece slated for May 16 -30, in Kigali. The continental showpiece, the first professional league of its kind to be run by NBA outside North America, will see 12 African basketball giants rubbing shoulders during a period of two weeks. With all participating teams supposed to have arrived in Kigali by May 7, seven of them have so far checked in. They include Malian champions AS Police, Nigeria’s giants Rivers Hoopers, Petro de Luanda (Angola), AS Douanes (Senegal), Ferroviário de Maputo (Mozambique), AS Salé (Morocco) and GS Pétroliers of Algeria. Prior to arrival, teams’ delegates immediately joined the “bubble” at the Onomo and Radisson Blu Hotels as well as the Kigali Convention Center. Meanwhile, Rwandan representative Patriots BBC join the bubble today. Last weekend’s draw put 12 participating teams into three groups of four each. They will feature an 18-game group phase with a total of 26 games. During the group phase, each team will face the three other teams in its group once. The top eight teams from the group phase will qualify for the playoffs, which will be single elimination in all three rounds. The BAL will be played under strict Covid-19 guidelines as organisers are looking at the possibility of welcoming supporters. Teams are drawn as follow: Group A: US Monastir (Tunisia), Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria), Patriots BBC (Rwanda) and GNBC (Madagascar) Group B: Petro de Luanda (Angola), AS Salé (Maroc), AS Police (Mali) and FAP (Cameroun) Group C: Zamalek (Egypt), AS Douanes (Senegal), Ferroviário de Maputo (Mozambique) and GS Pétroliers (Algeria).
