The schedule and groups for the Elite 16 qualifying round for season three of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) were confirmed following a draw ceremony at FIBA Africa office in Abidjan on Thursday, November 3. The Ivorian city of Abidjan will host the West Division from November 14-19, while East Division will take place in Johannesburg from November 22-27. Two teams (NBA Academy Africa and Elan Coton) entered the Elite 16 Round as wild cards. The 16 teams - divided into four groups of four - will compete for the six places available for the BAL regular in 2023. Each team will play the other three teams in their group. The teams that finish in the top-two places of the group will advance to the Second Round to compete in the Semi-Finals, Final and Third-Place Game of each Division. The winners of the Semi-Finals and winners of the Third-Place Games will qualify to the third edition of the BAL. The groups: EAST DIVISION GROUP A: Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) NBA Academy Africa (Africa) Urunani BBC (Burundi) Kenya Ports Authority (Kenya) GROUP B: Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique) Cobra Sports (*TBD) (South Sudan) City Oilers (Uganda) COSPN (Madagascar) WEST DIVISION GROUP A: Abidjan Basket Club (Cote d'Ivoire) Association Sportive Sale (Morocco) Elan Coton (Benin) Bangui Sporting Club (Central African Republic) GROUP B: Forces Armes et Police (Cameroon) Seydou Legacy Athletique Club (Guinea) Stade Malien Bamako (Mali) Nueva Era (Equatorial Guinea)
