Get to know FIBA Africa Basketball League

ABIDJAN - FIBA Africa has reformulated the Africa Champions Cup (ACC), and its new version is set to start in February 2019.

With the aim of revitalizing Africa's clubs competition, the continent basketball governing body made a number of significant changes that will impact the game across Africa.

The new competition is branded FIBA Africa Basketball League, and it has increased the number of participating clubs from twelve to sixteen.

Although Association Sportive de Sale of Morocco won the ACC 2017, Angolan side Primeiro D'Agosto (pictured) holds a record 8 titles 

All sixteen teams clinch a spot in the FIBA Africa Basketball League, through a regional qualifier (FIBA Africa Zones 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7).

The qualifiers for the inaugural FIBA Africa Basketball League, started in September and run mid-December while the Final Round will take place from February 8 to May 5, 2019, across different African cities.

The 16 qualified teams for the Round of 16 will be divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each and the competition will be played in a round-robin format with each team taking on its 3 opponent respectively.

And, the clubs that finish in the top 2 teams from each group advance to the Elite 8, where clubs will be divided into four groups of 2 teams each. The teams will play home-and-away games in the knock-out format.

Finally, the four winners from Elite 8 advance to the FINAL 4.

The schedule of the FIBA Africa Basketball League 2019 is as follows:

Round of 16
✓ Group A: February 8-10
✓ Group B: February 15-17
✓ Group C: March 1-3
✓ Group D: March 8-10

ELITE 8
✓ First Leg: March 22 - 31
✓ Second Leg: April 5 -14

FINAL FOUR
✓ May 3-5

So far, clubs qualified for the FIBA Africa Basketball League include Al Ahly of Egypt - winners of the Zone 5 Qualifiers, Smouha (Egypt), both Primeiro D'Agosto and Petro de Luanda of Angola, and Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique) who finished first, second and third, respectively, in Zone 6 Qualifiers.

FIBA