The Basketball Africa League (BAL) has announced that the 2022 season will tip off on March 5, next year in Dakar, Senegal. Some parts of the league will take place in Cairo - Egypt, and the finals and semifinals will be hosted in Rwanda. The BAL will attract 12 top club teams from 12 African countries, playing a total of 38 games in three cities over three months in 2022. The second BAL season will include 15 games at the Dakar Arena in Dakar from March 5-15, other 15 games will take place at the Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 9-19, and an eight-game playoffs and finals will be held at the Kigali Arena in Kigali from May 21-28. “After a successful and historic launch last spring, we are thrilled to be able to grow the BAL’s footprint in our second season,” said BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall. “Through this expanded competition format, we will bring more games to more countries across the continent, allowing new and returning fans to experience the excitement of this world-class league up close and in person,” he added. Anibal Manave, BAL Board President said this season will be even more exciting with the expansion of the number of games and also additional host cities. During the second BAL season, the 12 teams will be divided into two conferences of six teams each. Each conference will play a 15-game group phase during which each team will face the other five teams in its conference once. The top eight teams from the group phase will qualify for the BAL Playoffs, which will be single elimination in all three rounds. National league champions from 12 African countries will once again qualify for the second BAL season, including through the Road to BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Regional Office Africa across the continent from October to December 2021. On May 30, Zamalek defeated US Monastir (Tunisia) 76-63 to win the inaugural BAL championship, which took place at the Kigali Arena and was broadcast to fans in 215 countries and territories in 15 languages. The BAL teams, conferences and additional details about the league’s second season will be announced at a later date.
