Road to BAL 2025 - Meet the first candidates

 

ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - In a month the Road to Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2025 qualifying rounds will throw off setting off months of intense action all across the continent.

Already, some teams have booked their tickets to Africa’s clubs premier basketball competition while others are still slugging it out in their respective league’s to determined who joins the lot when the opening whistle finally goes only weeks away.

The Road to BAL will run from September to December with host cities yet to be determined.

FUS de Rabat was one of the two Road to BAL teams - alongside Benghazi - to reach the BAL 2024 quarterfinals

The teams that have completed the hurdles at home will fly their country’s flag in the fifth edition of the Road to BAL. They will have to prepare adequately for the opening phase, get to the Elite 16 before they can dream of squaring it off against the top guns.

Teams that have had their chances before to meet the rest of the continental giants include last editions Kalahari Conference winners Faith Union Sport (FUS) Rabat of Morocco who tops the already qualified teams.

FUS de Rabat made a successful BAL entry and their efforts were hugely rewarded when the Moroccan champions finished in the top three in the Division West Elite 16 and made it to the BAL 2024 quarterfinals.

The other big name that have made enough noise in the continent's top competition before and will be going out again for one big push, are regulars Abidjan Basketball Club (ABC) of Cote d'Ivoire.

 

The Ivorian side, involved in one of the events most enthralling games in BAL Season 3 where they went down 88-84 to last year’s champions Petro de Luanda of Angola (the first Sub-Saharan African team to win BAL finals), is expected to regroup and make strong strides again this year.

ABC overcame local rivals SOA 65-64 in the decisive third game of the domestic league to enter the Road to BAL 2025.

 

Algeria hasn't been represented in the BAL since GSP Petroliers carried the country's flag in the inaugural BAL season in 2021. This time, however,  Boufarik earned to right to represent Algeria in the qualification round to the BAL. Boufarik overcame TRA Draria 60-41 to win the Final series.

Two-time BAL participant Forces Armies et Police (FAP) came up short in Cameroon's domestic league, leaving the Central African country's Road to BAL slot to new champions KSA de Douala.

 

 

For the third time in the Road to BAL history Libya will be represented by a new team as Al-Ahly Tripoli won the Libyan Basketball League title for the eighth time in its history. 

Recently founded, Nairobi City Thunder are Kenya's new champions, and, as a result, earned the right to represent the country in the upcoming Road to BAL campaign.

 

The Thunders made history as the first team ever to be crowned Kenyan champions without losing a single game in the league’s 37-year history.

Also in the mix of Road to BAL 2025 candidates are Matero Magic of Zambia. 

According to BAL and the champions of Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia are qualified directly to the BAL regular season. 

Al Ittihad upset former BAL champion Al Ahly SC 76-70 in Game 4 of in Egypt's Super League final to add their name to the BAL.

ASVCD of Senegal joins in after upsetting DUC to claim a historic title joins as the third Senegalese side in the event. 

BAL reigning champions Petro de Luanda, who will represent the continent at next month's FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Singapore, won the Angola league's for the fourth time in a row. 

The filed will soon be complete when sets of other teams will join the race. 

FIBA