In the past few years, The Basketball Africa League (BAL) games in Kigali, Rwanda have always been scintillating and this year’s edition really lived up to its hype and billing from the first game.
The Basketball Africa League which is better known as BAL is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across the African Continent is a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the NBA. The top eight teams in this year’s BAL were Al Ahly Ly of Libya, Al Ahly SC of Egypt, AS Douanes of Senegal, Cape Town Tigers of South Africa, FUS Rabat of Morocco, Petro de Luanda of Angola, Rivers Hoopers of Nigeria and US Monastir of Tunisia.
Petro de Luanda beat Al Ahly Ly 107-94 on Saturday, June 1, 2024 at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda; to win the 2024 Basketball Africa League title. It was Petro de Luanda’s first continental title since winning the 2015 FIBA Africa Champions Cup in the capital of Luanda. The Angolan champions trailed 52-40 at the break but managed to turn things around in the third quarter to end Al Ahly Ly’s three-game winning streak in the postseason. With the win, Petro de Luanda earned the right to represent Africa at the next FIBA InterContinental Cup next in Singapore from 12-15 September 2024.
The third-place game was held on Friday, May 31, 2024 and it was between Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers and South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers which the team from Rivers State won by 80-57. The top 8 teams slugged it out in the final stage of BAL 4 in Kigali with the first game taking place on Friday, May 24, 2024.
For each final leg of the BAL tourney in Rwanda, there has been a drastic improvement from the previous edition. This year’s edition ticked all the right boxes from the teams; the raucous basketball supporters from across the globe; the electrifying arena and not forgetting the energetic drummers which all culminated into a boisterous grand finale.
Watching all the Rivers Hoopers’ games including the third-place game and the final; sitting at several vantage positions at the arena, I can state categorically that The BAL finals in Rwanda will be on the globe’s sporting calendar in 2025. The staggering number of Africans resident in Rwanda, Global South and Global North who converged on Kigali to watch the basketball games was evident at the BK Arena. The diverse African communities who are residents in Rwanda were not left out, as some came to support their countrymen playing for other teams. There was a large South Sudanese fanbase supporting their compatriots who were representing teams from other countries.
Several top influential African business moguls were seated at the courtside watching proceedings at several of the games. It was quite a sight to spot African and Nigerian veteran sportscasters and sports management experts who were within the crowd just watching proceedings, especially at the final. The court after some specific games became the harbour point to interact with the movers and shakers in the basketball world.
The just concluded BAL 4 ticked several boxes namely but not limited to increased global exposure to the country and the basketballers, social impact, inspiring young ones through youth development, sports infrastructure and stimulating economic growth.
