The BAL continues to grow. The Basketball Africa League recently announced its expansion for next season, which will take place in March 2024. A record 48 matches will be played, by 12 clubs from as many countries on the continent, with a novelty: they are no longer three, but four countries, counting South Africa, which will host the competition.
The tip of the continent thus joins Egypt (Cairo), Senegal (Dakar) as well as Rwanda (Kigali), where the final phases will still be played. “ We look forward to building on the momentum of our first three seasons and continuing to offer a world-class basketball product, which proudly represents Africa on the international stage. », Enthuses its president, Amadou Gallo Fall.
Why South Africa? Because the rainbow nation has always been a priority country for the development of the NBA in Africa. This is obviously where the headquarters of NBA Africa is located. There has been a lot of work over the years and the BAL is the culmination of several decades of work by the NBA, which ultimately partnered with FIBA “, thus contextualizes the leader in the columns of ESPN.
The latter recalls that the Cape Town Tigers reached the playoffs the last two seasons and that basketball generates “ a lot of passion ” in the country. As a result, a pool of young talent is emerging locally.
“ The talent is there. I have no doubt that for a country of around 60 million people, there is enough talent to build a strong national team, but it all starts with governance. The federation must be strong and have a vision. In the future, I will encourage the country to send more teams – U16 and U18 – to the African continental tournaments. This is how we improve », recommends Amadou Gallo Fall.
He adds : ” I haven’t seen South Africa reach elite men’s level in a long time, but you have to start at youth level. You have a league – the BNL – which has enormous potential. » The establishment of the BAL is also intended to confirm this.
