Egypt's Zamalek open BAL title defence against Cobra Sport

Basketball Africa League champions Zamalek of Egypt will begin their title defence against South Sudan's Cobra Sport, the league said on Tuesday ahead of its second season that will feature the top club teams from 12 African countries.

Senegal's Dakar Universite will face Guinea's Seydou Legacy Athletique Club at the Dakar Arena in the season opener on Mar 5, which will be the first of 38 games taking place across three cities over three months.

Games will also be held in Cairo, Egypt and Kigali, Rwanda.

The 12-team BAL is organised by the National Basketball Association and is their first foray outside North America.

Zamalek, Atletico Petroleos de Luanda (Angola), Association Sportive de Sale (Morocco), FAP (Cameroon) and US Monastir (Tunisia) are the four returning teams.

Champions from national leagues in Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia earned their participation in the 2022 BAL season by winning their respective national leagues.

The remaining teams from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Mozambique, South Africa and South Sudan all secured their spots through qualifying tournaments conducted across the continent in late 2021.

Teams will be divided equally into two conferences that play a 15-game group phase to determine the eight-team field for the playoffs, which will be single elimination in all three rounds culminating in the May 28 championship.