BEIRUT (Lebanon)- The FIBA Regional Office-Asia on Thursday, May 28, 2026 announced the deferment of FIBA WASL Final 8 2026 to Sept 25-Oct 1 this year, in order to facilitate the completion of the domestic leagues and the International Windows for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Qualifiers.
The domestic leagues had to be suspended due to the war situation in the Gulf and West Asia regions and have since resumed action following the return to normalcy in the region.
The International Windows will see National Teams feature in two Windows in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Qualifiers scheduled to be held first weeks of July 2026 and then the final week of August 2026.
The deferment of FIBA WASL Final 2026 to September facilitates the completion of the domestic leagues and also helps players prepare for their National Team participations in the International Windows.
The top two teams from FIBA WASL Final 8 2026 will qualify for the BCL Asia 2026, where they will be joined by South China AA (HKG) and Taoyuan Pauian Pilots (TPE) who finished as the top two teams from the recently concluded BCL Asia-East 2026 along with the top teams from China, Japan, Korea and Philippines leagues.
The BCL Asia 2026 will follow the FIBA WASL Final 8 2026 soon after and is scheduled to be played in the first two weeks of October 2026.
It may be recalled that Al Riyadi (LBN), BC Astana (KAZ), Shahrdari Gorgan (IRI) and Sagesse BC (LBN) in the FIBA WASL West Asia League and Kuwait SC (KUW), Al Ula (KSA), Ittihad Club (KSA) and Al Arabi SC (QAT) in the FIBA WASL Gulf League were all set to start action in the Final Phase of the FIBA WASL Sub-Zone Leagues, when the entire league had to be deferred due to the war situation in the region the past March.
FIBA