As the 2024 Basketball Africa League curtain draws to a close, President of the BAL, Amadou Gallo Fall, has said there has been conversations ongoing to expand the league in subsequent seasons.
The BAL games which were played in two conferences for season two and three saw the introduction of another conference this season. The newly added Kalahari Conference was played in Pretoria, South Africa in March followed by Nile and Sahara Conference held in April and early May respectively.
Speaking at the opening press conference of the league's playoffs, Fall said there has been lots of interests to increase the number of teams but they would only do so at the right time.
''The goal of the Basketball Africa League is to show growth and improvement after every season. Our initial plan was to have more than four cities host the BAL in the first season, but the pandemic forced us to adjust.
''It was about using the format to be in as many African cities as possible to improve economic growth. We want to make sure we get to as many fans as possible. It was about growing our fan base and, in the process, improving the product.''
Fall disclosed the possibilities of an expanded home and away format with increased number of teams.
''Yes, there are plans to expand, but expansion doesn't necessarily mean geographical location, but I know long-term there are conversations about whether having a home and away format could be a better guarantee of ensuring engagement.
''We will do so when we feel the timing is right.'' ''We are thinking of increasing the teams from 12 to a bigger number. There is a lot of interest, and we keep working with FIBA to see how we can tweak some of our qualifying phase and how we can make sure top countries and top teams are present in the league at the end of the day.
Also present at the press conference was the NBA Africa CEO Caire Akamanzi and FIBA Africa President Anibal Manave.
Akamanzi said, "It is very heart warming to see the growth of the BAL in its fourth season. Just as we have seen new teams, new countries compete which shows growth, we could also point out that the NBA has also experienced growth in Africa. Our new office has been established in Kenya which is our fifth country where the NBA office is established which also shows growth which we are encouraged by it.''
"We want to thank the BAL for the partnership and we are committed in FIBA and we want to put more money in the next four years in development, mini basketball, youth games and other activities. It is the only way to have better players in the future, 'Manave added.
The 2024 Playoffs will tipoff on Friday with Cape Town Tigers facing AL Ahly Libya while Al Ahly Egypt will play against FUS Rabat in the second game at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
