The Syrian Basketball League (), officially Syriatel Basketbal League, is the top-tier professional men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

league in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Syrian Basketball Federation. Both

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

teams, Jalaa SC and Al-Ittihad SC, dominated the league until 1993.

History

Jalaa SC, previously known as Shabibeh, dominated the league from 1956 until 1978. Then another team from

, Al-Ittihad SC, took all the titles until 1993. Later on, Damascus clubs Al Wahda and Al-Jaish SC won some titles sporadically. In 2021, for the first time in SBL history, the league was won by a club from the city of

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

, Al-Karamah SC.

Sponsorship

As of 2022, the league's main partners are Sinalco, Syriatel, Cham Wings Airlines, Sama TV and

Syria TV Syrian TV (), also known as Syrian Satellite Channel (), is a public broadcasting, public television channel, owned by the Syrian General Organization of Radio and TV (Syria), General Organization of Radio and TV and broadcast nationwide on Digi ...

Competition format

The SBL is played by the international

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule pertaining to the structure or behavior internal to a business * School rule, a rule tha ...

. Since 2020–21 the SBL season has a new format. In the regular season, all teams play each other first home and away. Based on the order in the first round, the top four teams play the playoff system. The semi-final consists of a series played in the twice-to-beat format of the best team with the worst and the second with the third of four. The final is played in the format of two advancing semi-finalists in a series of three winning matches in the best of five format.

Promotion and relegation

The two worst teams relegate at the end of the season and the two best teams in Division 2 advance to the league.

Current clubs

2023–24 teams:

Title holders

Performances

Finals

Performance by club

Performance by city

Women's league

2021–22 teams:

References

External links

Syrian Basketball Federation website
{{Men's professional basketball leagues Basketball competitions in Syria Basketball leagues in Asia Women's basketball leagues in Asia Sports leagues established in 1956

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...