BEIRUT (Lebanon)- The FIBA Regional Office-Asia on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 confirmed the teams that will participate in, and the schedule for, the 2026 season of BCL Asia-East, a FIBA owned league involving leading club teams representing the National Federations coming under the South East and East Asia sub-zones of FIBA Asia.
The field for the third edition of the pioneering league, that qualifies teams from the region to the prestigious Basketball Champions League Asia, has a fair share of familiar faces who will lock horns with a bunch of newcomers.
Action in Group A comprising teams from South East Asia Sub-Zone will tip off in Banten Indonesia on March 27 with Group B seeing first action in Hong Kong China on April 6.
All games during the Group Phase will be played on the caravan model.
The top three teams from each of the Groups will make their way to the BCL Asia-East 2026 Final 6, where they will be divided into two groups of three teams each with the top two advancing to the criss-cross Semi-Finals and then the Finals. The top two teams of BCL Asia-East 2026, subject to not more than one team from each National Federation, will qualify to play in the BCL Asia 2026.
Return of Hong Kong China
The season will see the return of a team from Hong Kong China after a gap one year – in the form of South China, who won their 17th league title in the Hong Kong A1 Division Championship last year. Hong Kong Eastern had played in the inaugural edition two years ago.
They will be joined by three teams who made it to the BCL Asia-East 2025 Final Four – reigning BCL Asia-East champions Ulaabaatar Xac Broncos of Mongolia along with the Chinese Taipei duo New Taipei Kings and Taoyuan Pauian Pilots – in Group B of the Group Phase for the BCL Asia-East 2026 season.
Broncos, who come in with two back-to-back titles in the domestic league, had beaten Taoyuan Pauian in the BCL Asia-East 2025 Final game with the two finalists qualifying for BCL Asia 2025.
Broncos even went on to return a historic third-place finish in the BCL Asia 2025.
Dewa, Johor make their debut
Group A for the BCL Asia-East 2026 will feature a bunch of fresh faces.
Dewa United Banten make their BCL Asia-East 2026 debut – replacing Pelita Jaya as the Indonesia representative bringing to an end the latter’s rather impressive run in the first two years.
Pelita Jaya were one of the two teams who qualified for BCL Asia – Malaysia’s NS Matrix Deers being the other – two seasons ago before finishing third last year.
Malaysia too will see a new face representing in Johor Southern Tigers who won their maiden Major Basketball League title, having lost to NS Matrix in the Finals of the two successive prior seasons.
Joining them will be a familiar face in Thailand champions Hi-Tech who will aim to go better than their first two outings, when they lost in the first round two year ago followed by the exit at the Group Phase last year.
FIBA