The Kigali Arena. Kigali has been named host city for the first
semi-final and championship games of NBA-backed Basketball Africa
League. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA | NMG
The NBA-backed Basketball Africa League (BAL) unveiled host
cities Tuesday for its inaugural season, with Kigali, Rwanda, as the
named host city for the first semi-final and championship games.
Cairo,
Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; Lagos, Nigeria; Luanda, Angola; Rabat, Morocco
and a Tunisian city, Tunis or Monastir, were announced as the sites for
BAL regular-season games.
The BAL, featuring 12 club teams from across Africa, is set to begin play in March 2020.
"Today's
announcements mark another important milestone as we head into what
will be a historic first season," BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall said.
The 12 teams will be divided into two six-team conferences, each conference playing games in three of the six host cities.
Each team will play five regular-season games, with the top three clubs in each conference advancing to the playoffs.
The "Super Six" will play a round-robin format to determine the
BAL Final Four that advance to Kigali in late spring 2020 for the
single-game elimination semi-finals and final.
The BAL
also announced Nike and the Jordan Brand would each provide the official
uniforms and gear for six of the clubs in the league's first business
partnership.
The NBA announced its first collaboration
to operate a league outside North America in February, working alongside
world governing body Fiba.
Both plan to dedicate financial support and resources for training of African players, coaches and referees.
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