The Balkan International Basketball League (BIBL), also known as the Balkan League, is a multinational professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

league that features mostly clubs from the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. The league included teams from countries as

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The most recent league champion is

Hapoel Galil Elyon Hapoel Galil Elyon ( he, הפועל גליל עליון), also known as Hapoel Nofar Energy Galil Elion for sponsorship reasons, is an Israeli basketball club. The team competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli b ...

from Israel.

Purpose

The purpose of the Balkan International Basketball League is to provide competitive international play for clubs in the

that would otherwise be unable to participate in international basketball. The league achieves this by providing financial support to all participating clubs in order to ease the costs that make international play difficult. Among other milestones, the league is also the first international league of its kind to include teams from

Format

As of the 2017-2018 season, the Balkan International Basketball League has introduced a new, simplified competition format. As per the new format, the competition will involve 8 teams playing each other in a double round robin (home and away) for a total of around 14 games. The changes to the league format include a new playoff format. The first and second place teams automatically qualify for playoffs, while teams placed 3rd to 6th will play each other home and away to make it to the final four (3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5). Winning teams will advance to the finals to play for the championship. At the start of the 2020-2021 season, 12 teams from Israel joined the league in order to participate in competitive league play during the COVID-19 era.

Championships

Titles by club

Titles by country

Current clubs (2021–22 season)

References

External links

BIBL Official Website

Eurobasket.com League Page

BallinEurope.com Article
{{Balkan Championships Multi-national basketball leagues in Europe 2008 establishments in Europe Sports leagues established in 2008

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Multi-national professional sports leagues