New coaches for Algeria national teams confirmed

ALGIERS (FIBA AfroBasket 2017/FIBA AfroBasket Women 2017) - The Algerian Basketball Federation (FABB) has agreed to one-year contracts with new head coaches for the senior men's and women's national teams.

Yacine Belal, who served as assistant coach to Azzedine Labouize at FIBA AfroBasket Women 2015, is now the man in charge of the women's national side.

Yacine Belal was Algeria's assistant coach at FIBA AfroBasket Women 2015 

Meanwhile Ahmed Loubachria becomes the third head coach of men's team in as many years, replacing Ali Filali who guided the North Africans to a 6th-place finish at FIBA AfroBasket 2015 in Tunisia.

FABB chairman Rabah Bouarifi said both agreements will last through next year as his term of office will end later this year and the new board might need to re-evaluate the coaching positions.

Bouarifi made sure to share the moment both Loubachria and Belal signed the agreement.

Loubachria last coached Algeria's men during the FIBA AfroBasket 2011 Zone 1 qualifiers. At the time they lost the two-team qualifying series to Morocco. 

According to FABB, both Loubachria and Belal have been asked to help the teams qualify for next year's continental championships with the qualifiers expected to take place in March 2017.

Another significant goal, Bouarifi said, is "the rejuvenation of the women's national team in order to compete against the best African national teams in the future."

Algeria finished 11th out of 12 at FIBA AfroBasket Women 2015 in Yaounde, Cameroon.

FIBA