The Road to BAL, also known as the BAL Qualifying Tournaments, are the qualifying tournaments of the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League. The league is a joint eff ...

(BAL). The organization of the qualifiers is in hands of

FIBA Africa FIBA Africa is a zone within the FIBA basketball association which contains all 54 national African FIBA federations. It was founded in 1961. FIBA Africa maintains offices in Cairo and in Abidjan. Members FIBA World Rankings Overview ...

. The first qualifying rounds were held on 16 October 2019. The qualifiers are geographically divided into the West and East Division, with three teams qualifying out of each division. Semi-finals and finals are played to determine the winners of the qualifying tournaments.

Format

The national champions of each national federation (associated with

) can sign up for the BAL qualifiers. In the inaugural edition, a total of 31 teams from 31 countries participate in the qualifying tournaments to determine which six teams will play in the 2020 BAL regular season, along with six directly placed six teams. The qualifying tournaments are divided into the first round and the Elite 16; teams are also divided into the East Division and the West Division. Out of each division, three teams advance to the main tournament.

Venues

The qualifying rounds are usually played in groups of 4 to 6 teams that play each other once in a venue in a predetermined location. 13 arenas in 12 different countries have hosted a stage of the BAL qualifiers. The following arenas have hosted at least one group stage:

Results

East Division

West Division

Performance by country

Thus far, 9 different clubs from 9 different country have successfully qualified for the BAL. As of the 2023 season, Nigeria, Rwanda, Egypt, Senegal and Tunisia are given a bye for the qualifiers as they qualify directly for the BAL. In 2021, Morocco was also given an automatic spot.

All-time participants

The following is a list of clubs who have played in the BAL Qualifying Tournaments at any time since its formation in 2019.

All-time record by club

:''As of 8 October 2022.''

Records

Team records

* Best performance by record: ** Patriots in the 2019 qualification (9–0) * Largest win ** 96 points difference ( Ferroviário da Beira 132–36 Roche-Bois Warriors) on October 22, 2021 ** 83 points difference ( Djabal Iconi 37–120 KPA) on October 22, 2022 ** 77 points difference (KPA 131–54 Usoni Club) on November 1, 2019 * Most points scored in a game ** 131 by

KPA KPA may refer to: * Keele Postgraduate Association, Keele University, UK, formerly Keele Research Association (KRA) * Kensington (Olympia) station, London, England, National Rail station code * Kenya Ports Authority * ''Kiln phosphoric acid'', a ...

(131–54 vs. Usoni Club) on November 1, 2019 * Fewest points scored in a game ** 36 by Roche-Bois Warriors (vs. Ferroviário da Beira) on October 30, 2019

Individual records

* Most points scored in a game ** 45 by Baraka Athumani, JKT (vs.

Dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

) on October 20, 2019 ** 40 by Falando Jones,

City Oilers City Oilers is a basketball club based in Lugogo, Kampala, Uganda. The team competes in the Ugandan National Basketball League (NBL), where it has won eight championships, the most in league history. The Oilers play in the Basketball Africa League ...

(vs.

Cape Town Tigers Cape Town Tigers is a South African basketball club based in Cape Town. The team is located in the Gugulethu township. Established in 2019 by three American business partners, the club has won the South African national championship in 2021 and 20 ...

) on November 26, 2022 ** 39 by Mohamed Ali Halder, Al-Nasr (vs. FAP). on November 26, 2019 ** 36 by Abdoulaye Harouna (vs. FAP) on November 16, 2022 ** 36 by Francis Ramanampamonjy Mory, GNBC (vs.

) on October 31, 2019 * Most rebounds in a game ** 26 by Michael Mukumbutaa, Lions Windhoek (vs.

UNZA Pacers The University of Zambia Pacers, better known as UNZA Pacers, is a Zambian basketball team based in Lusaka. The team plays in the Midlands Basketball Association (MBA). It is the basketball section of the University of Zambia. Representing Zam ...

) on October 27, 2019 ** 22 by Ameh Eric Ejeh, ASPAC (vs.

Nigelec NIGELEC (''Société Nigérienne d'Electricité'', ''Nigerien Electricity Society'') is the Parastatal electric power generation and transmission utility in Niger. It is majority owned by the Government of Niger and was founded in 1968. In 2006 NI ...

) on October 30, 2019 * Most assists in a game ** 12 by Stephane Mshana, JKT (vs. Dynamo) on October 20, 2019 * Most steals in a game ** 9 by Abdoulaye Harouna,

(vs. FAP) on November 28, 2019 * Most blocks in a game ** 7 by

Chris Obekpa Christopher Ewaoche Obekpa (born 14 November 1993) is a Nigerian professional basketball player who last played for the Rivers Hoopers. He played college basketball for St. John's University in Jamaica, New York from 2012 to 2015. As a freshman ...

SLAC SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University under the programmatic direction of the U.S. Departm ...

(vs. FAP) on November 16, 2022 * Most 3-point field goals made in a game ** 9 by Timothy Kwaor, Nigelec (vs.

NPA Pythons The National Port Authority Pythons, better known as simply NPA Pythons, is a Liberian basketball team based in Monrovia. It is the basketball team of the National Port Authority organization. The team plays in the LBA League, the top professiona ...

) on November 1, 2019

Notes

References

{{Basketball Africa League Basketball in Africa Qualifying