Dar City learn Road to BAL opponents

DAR ES SALAAM: TANZANIA’S representatives, Dar City, have discovered their opponents in the East Division Elite 16 of the 2027 Basketball Africa League (BAL) qualifying competition following weekend’s draw in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Dar City have been placed in Group B alongside Dolphins of Botswana, Uganda’s Namuwongo Blazers and Mozambique’s Ferroviario da Beira as they chase a place in the 2027 BAL season.

The East Division Elite 16 tournament will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from November 23 to 29, with eight teams battling for qualification to Africa’s premier professional basketball league.

The draw, conducted by the FIBA Regional Office Africa on November 6, divided the 16 qualified clubs into four groups of four, with the competition split between the West and East divisions.

In the East Division, Group A comprises hosts Nairobi City Thunder of Kenya, South Sudan’s Patriot Basketball Club, Munali Suns of Zambia and Burundi’s Urunani.

Dar City will be looking to make the most of their opportunity against a challenging Group B lineup, with the objective of securing one of the available tickets to the continental showpiece.

The West Division Elite 16 will take place in Abidjan from November 9 to 15. Group A features JCA Kings of Côte d’Ivoire, Avenir du Rail of the Republic of Congo, Spintex Knights of Ghana and Stade Malien of Mali.

Group B comprises Libya’s Al Ittihad Sporting Club, Algeria’s Nadi Staoueli, Nabaya Sofas of Guinea and Gabon’s Espoir Basket Club.

Under the qualification format, the top two teams from each division, together with the highestranked third-placed team across the two divisions, will secure places in the 2027 BAL season, giving the Elite 16 five qualification slots.

The five qualifiers will join seven teams that have already secured automatic places in the BAL regular season, representing Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia.