The Basketball Africa League (BAL) on Tuesday announced the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries that will compete in the 2022 BAL season, which will tip off Saturday, March 5 at the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal, and will include stops in Cairo, Egypt and Kigali, Rwanda. 

In the season opener, Senegal’s Dakar Université Club (DUC) will take on Guinea’s Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (S.L.A.C) in the first of 38 games taking place across three cities over three months in 2022.

The 12 teams, which include defending BAL Champion Zamalek (Egypt) and four other teams returning from the inaugural BAL season in 2021, will be divided into two conferences – the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference. 

Each conference will play a 15-game group phase during which each team will face the other five teams in its conference once. 

The Sahara Conference’s group phase will take place at the Dakar Arena from March 5-15, and the Nile Conference’s group phase will take place at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 9-19. 

The top four teams from each conference will qualify for the BAL Playoffs, which will feature a single-elimination tournament and Finals at Kigali Arena from May 21-28. 

The 2022 BAL season will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories.   

BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall said “We are thrilled to welcome seven new teams and four new countries into the second season of the BAL. 

“Defending Champion Zamalek will anchor the five returning teams, after representing the BAL in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup this month in Cairo. 

“The competition to bring home the 2022 BAL Championship Trophy is heating up, and we are excited that more fans will have an opportunity to watch the games live in three world-class African cities.  To BAL fans across the continent and around the world – Game On!

“We are excited for the tip off of this highly anticipated season two of the BAL,” said FIBA Africa and BAL Board President Anibal Manave.  “The Road to BAL 2022, which was successfully completed at the end of last year, provided fans with some exciting close games and captivating action.  We are optimistic that this expanded BAL season will be a huge success.”

Champions from the national leagues in Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia earned their participation in the 2022 BAL season by winning their respective national leagues. 

The remaining six teams, which come from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Mozambique, South Africa and South Sudan, secured their participation through the Road to BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Regional Office Africa across the continent from October to December 2021.

New Fortress Energy (NFE), Rwanda Development Board (RDB), NIKE, Jordan Brand and Wilson will return as BAL Foundational Partners. 

The league’s roster of world-class marketing partners also includes Flutterwave and Hennessy.

On May 30, Zamalek defeated US Monastir 76-63 to win the inaugural BAL Championship, which took place at Kigali Arena and was broadcast to fans in 215 countries and territories in 15 languages.