ALL eyes in African basketball turned to Pretoria, South Africa for the Kalahari Conference of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) for a spot in the BAL playoffs in Kigali, Rwanda in May 2024.
FUS Rabat, hailing from Morocco, stole the show – winning the Kalahari Conference in front a sold out crowd at the SunBet Arena – finishing with a 3-1 record. Angolan representatives Petro de Luanda emerged as the second place finishers in the group, also clinching their berth to the BAL playoffs, winning 2 games and suffering 2 defeats.
South African representatives and Hometown heroes the Cape Town Tigers finished third in the group finishing with 1 sole win and 3 defeats. Cape Town Tigers guard Samkelo Cele finished as the leading scorer from the Kalahari Conference with a scoring average of 20.5 points per game.
The Conference campaign was not without its share of controversy as the Burundi representatives, Dynamo Basketball Club, withdrew from the tournament – after forfeiting their game against the Angolan outfit Petro de Luanda.
BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall issued a statement on the withdrawal of the Burundian team,
“Dynamo Basketball Club (Burundi) has further refused to comply with the Basketball Africa League’s rules and requirements governing jerseys and uniforms, thereby forfeiting today’s game against Petro de Luanda (Angola) and its participation in the 2024 BAL season. Under FIBA rules, two forfeitures in the same tournament trigger the club’s automatic withdrawal. This is a very unfortunate situation for the players and fans, and we share the frustrations of everyone involved. All remaining Kalahari Conference games will be played as scheduled, and we look forward to engaging fans in Pretoria through expanded fan and community events.” said Fall.
The fourth season of the Basketball African League will continue in May 2024 with a trip to Kigali, Rwanda to crown new champions of African basketball.
