Interview with Head of NBA South Africa, Zeph Masote on the upcoming Basketball African League
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Tuks FM's Lunch presenter, Eulender chats to the Head of the SA NBA about the upcoming BAL.
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) sixth season will tip off on Friday, March 27 at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, and culminate with 2026 BAL Finals on Sunday, May 31 at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. The 2026 BAL season will feature the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries playing 42 games in Pretoria; Rabat, Morocco; and Kigali.
This season, the 12 teams is divided into two conferences of six teams each. Each conference will
play a 15-game group phase during which each team will face the other five teams in its
conference once. The Kalahari Conference group phase will take place from March 27 – Sunday,
April 5 in Pretoria. The Sahara Conference group phase will take place from Friday, April 24 – Sunday, May 3 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat.
Eight teams from across the two conferences will qualify for the Playoffs in Kigali from Friday,
May 22 – May 31. Fans can purchase tickets on Ticketmaster.com.
The 12 teams include Dar City – the first-ever BAL participant from Tanzania – first-time BAL participants JCA Kings (Côte d’Ivoire), Maktown Flyers (Nigeria), Johannesburg Giants (South Africa) and Club Africain (Tunisia), 2024 BAL champion Petro de Luanda (Angola) – the only team to have qualified for all six BAL seasons – and 2023 BAL champion Al Ahly (Egypt).
This season, the national league champions from seven countries – Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia – automatically qualified for the BAL. The other five teams qualified through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October – December 2025.
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) sixth season will tip off on Friday, March 27 at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, and culminate with 2026 BAL Finals on Sunday, May 31 at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. The 2026 BAL season will feature the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries playing 42 games in Pretoria; Rabat, Morocco; and Kigali.
This season, the 12 teams is divided into two conferences of six teams each. Each conference will
play a 15-game group phase during which each team will face the other five teams in its
conference once. The Kalahari Conference group phase will take place from March 27 – Sunday,
April 5 in Pretoria. The Sahara Conference group phase will take place from Friday, April 24 – Sunday, May 3 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat.
Eight teams from across the two conferences will qualify for the Playoffs in Kigali from Friday,
May 22 – May 31. Fans can purchase tickets on Ticketmaster.com.
The 12 teams include Dar City – the first-ever BAL participant from Tanzania – first-time BAL participants JCA Kings (Côte d’Ivoire), Maktown Flyers (Nigeria), Johannesburg Giants (South Africa) and Club Africain (Tunisia), 2024 BAL champion Petro de Luanda (Angola) – the only team to have qualified for all six BAL seasons – and 2023 BAL champion Al Ahly (Egypt).
This season, the national league champions from seven countries – Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia – automatically qualified for the BAL. The other five teams qualified through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October – December 2025.
