Nigeria’s continental basketball representatives, Rivers Hoopers of Port Harcourt and Civil Defenders of Abuja have been joined by three north African clubs in the draw for next year’s continental challenge.
Sports247.ng gathered that Hoopers and Defenders will now hope for a favourable draw next week, as they will be joined in the dip by Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive Rades and JS Kairouan as well as Morocco’s Sportive de Sale from FIBA Africa Zone 1.
To book a ticket to the first FIBA Afro League, Rivers Hoopers finished with a 5-0 record at the FIBA Africa Zone 3 qualifiers in Cotonou, Benin Republic, while Civil Defenders lost just a game, against their Nigerian rivals, to finish as runners-up.
Draws for the AfroLeague will be conducted after the 16th team is determined through a wild card.
The competition will run from January 11 to April 21 in three phases – group stage, elite 8 and finals.
The group stage will be played in a round robin format with the top 2 teams from each of the 4 groups advancing to the top 8.
The elite 8 will be divided into 4 groups of 2 teams each and then games will be played in a home and away format.
Four winners will advance to the final 4 to be played on April 20 while the final take place the next day.
Teams from Zone 1 completed their qualifiers on Sunday, when Tunisian champions, Etoile Sportive Rades emerged champions while JS Kairouan and Moroccan champs, AS Sportive de Sale completed qualified teams.
The 15 teams to be drawn in four groups of four clubs each are from Zone 1: JS Kairouan, ES Rades (Tunisia) and AS Sale (Morocco); Zone 2: SLAC (Guinea); as well as Zone 3: Rivers Hoopers, Civil Defenders (Nigeria) and Elan Sportif (Benin Republic).
Others are Zone 4: BC Terreur and BC Mazembe (DR Congo); Zone 5: Al Ahly and Smouha (Egypt); Zone 6: Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique), Clube Desportivo de Agosto and AtleticoPetroleos de Luanda (Angola); as well as Zone 7: COSPN (Madagascar).
