The 2025 BAL final was the championship game of the

2025 BAL season The 2025 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 5, will be the 5th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season will begin on 5 April and end on 14 June 2025 with the final. The playoffs and finals will be held in Pretoria, South Africa, ...

, the third season of the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men's basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the league was established and is co-organized by NBA Africa and the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Each season typically r ...

(BAL), and the conclusion of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. The final was played on 14 June 2025 at the

SunBet Arena SunBet Arena, also known as the Sun Arena at Times Square, is a multi-purpose Arena, indoor arena based in Waterkloof Glen in Pretoria, City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, Tshwane in South Africa. Opened in 2017, the arena is owned by hot ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, South Africa, which was the venue for the first time. The final was contested by Angolan club Petro de Luanda and Libyan club Al Ahli Tripoli. Al Ahli Tripoli won the final, defeating the defending champions Petro, 88–67, becoming the first Libyan team to win the title, as well as the first team that qualified through the

Road to BAL The Road to BAL, also known as the BAL Qualifying Tournaments, are the qualifying tournaments of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). While the main tournament is co-organised by FIBA and the NBA, the organization of the qualifiers is completely do ...

to win the league. As winners, Al Ahli qualified for the

2025 FIBA Intercontinental Cup The 2025 FIBA Intercontinental Cup will be the 35th edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. The tournament will be hosted at the Singapore Indoor Stadium for a third consecutive year under a three-year agreement with the Singaporean government ...

Background

Al Ahly Ly guard

Solo Diabate Mouloukou Souleyman Diabate (born 21 July 1987), commonly known as Solo Diabate, is an Ivorian basketball player for Petro de Luanda of the Unitel Basket and the Basketball Africa League (BAL). After playing a decade in France and some years in ...

played a in a record-extending fourth final, and had the chance to become the first player to win three BAL championships. Al Ahli Tripoli was favored by betmakers ahead of the final.

Previous finals

In the following table, finals played in the

FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup The FIBA Africa Basketball League (formerly named the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup) was the highest caliber men's professional basketball competition for clubs until 2020, organized by the FIBA Africa and played by the champions of the league ...

(ACC), the previous highest level continental competition, are in small text.

Road to the final

Petro de Luanda

After the successful previous season, veteran Jone Pedro left the club (after 5 years), along with

Gerson Gonçalves Gerson Henriques Gonçalves (born 29 March 1996), also known as Lukeny, is an Angolan basketball player for AMSB of the French LNB Pro B. He played nine seasons for Petro de Luanda of the Angolan Basketball League, where he was a two-time lea ...

(after 9 years), who signed a contract in France. The team reinforced themselves with

, who returned after one season in Libya, and Patrick Gardner. The season began with the

Supertaça de Angola The Angolan football Super Cup is a single-match competition in Angolan football, played between the Angolan league champion and the Angola Cup winner. In case the same team happens to win both the league and the cup, the match will be played be ...

on November 24, 2024; Petro won the cup for an eleventh time after easily defeating

Interclube Grupo Desportivo Interclube, usually known as Interclube or Inter de Luanda, is an Angolan Association football, football club based in Luanda. The club is attached to the Angolan police force. Interclube is one of the two clubs based in Luanda ( ...

in the game. In January 2025, Carlos Morais left the team after 22 seasons with Petro, when he signed with

. They also signed Rigoberto Mendoza. Petro was allocated in the Sahara Conference, and thus played the group stage games in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. They finished second behind US Monastir and qualified for the playoffs. On April 11, Petro won its 15th

Taça de Angola :''This is about the Angolan football (soccer) competition. For the similarly named sports competitions, see Taça de Angola (basketball), Taça de Angola (handball) Taça de Angola (roller hockey)'' The Angolan football Cup is the main "knockou ...

(Cup) title after crushing

Vila Clotilde Vila Clotilde is a village in Caué District on São Tomé Island in São Tomé and Príncipe. Its population is 53 (2012 census).Primeiro de Agosto Clube Desportivo 1º de Agosto is a multisports club from Luanda, Angola. The club, founded 1 August 1977, is attached to the Angolan armed forces, which is its sponsor. Its main team competes in men's football, and its professional basketball t ...

's record for most cup titles won. On May 12, 2025, Petro announced the signing of

Samkelo Cele Samkelo Brian Cele (born 28 December 1997) is a South African professional basketball player who plays for Petro de Luanda (basketball), Petro de Luanda of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Born in Durban, he played college basketball for thr ...

to the team. On May 30, 2025, Petro successfully defended its national title by defeating Primeiro de Agosto in the finals in five games. It was Petro's eighteenth title, and the sixth consecutive championship. It was the second team to win six straight titles, following Primeiro de Agosto's streak between 2000 and 2005.

Aboubakar Gakou Aboubakar Pedro Gakou (born 27 May 1997) is an Angolan basketball player who plays for Petro de Luanda and the Angola national team. Standing at , he plays as power forward. Gakou started his career with Petro in 2015 and has won four national ...

was named the Angolan League MVP for a third time.

Al Ahly Tripoli

Game

References

{{Basketball Africa League June 2025 sports events in South Africa

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Sports competitions in Pretoria

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

2025 in South African sport Basketball competitions in South Africa