Egyptian Basketball Premier League

Egyptian Basketball Premier League
Organising bodyEgyptian Basketball Federation (EBBFED)
Founded1972; 52 years ago (1972)
First season1972–73
CountryEgypt
ConfederationFIBA Africa
Number of teams16
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toEgyptian Basketball Premier League B
Domestic cup(s)Egypt Cup
SupercupEgypt Super Cup
International cup(s)Basketball Africa League (BAL)
Current championsAl Ittihad (14th title)
(2023–24)
Most championshipsZamalek (15 titles)
TV partnersOnTime Sports, Nile Sports
Websiteegypt.basketball
2023–24 Egyptian Basketball Premier League

The Egyptian Basketball Premier League (Arabic: بطولة الدورى العام الممتاز (أ) رجال) is the top professional basketball division of the Egyptian basketball league system. Administered by the Egyptian Basketball Federation (EBBFED), it is contested by 16 teams, with the two lowest-placed teams relegated to the Egyptian Basketball Premier League B and replaced by the top two teams in that division.

A total of five clubs have been crowned champions of the Egyptian Basketball Super League since its inception in 1972, with Zamalek winning the title a record 15 times and Al Ittihad 14 times, though the Egyptian Basketball Super League also saw other champions, including Gezira (11 times), Al Ahly (7 times) and Sporting (3 times). The champions of each season qualify for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) regular season.[citation needed]

Format

The Premier League is the basic and qualifying league for the Basketball Africa League (BAL), as Egypt has been identified as a key market by the league's organisation.

The typical season currently consists of three stages:

  1. The preliminary stage: where 1 meets 16, 2 meets 15, and so on in terms of ranking in the Mortabt-League.
  2. The regular season: After the rise of eight teams compete among themselves In back and forth matches. The season is divided into the Super League (teams ranked 1st–8th) and the bottom group (teams ranked 9th–16th).
  3. Playoffs stage: It starts from the final round, where the 1st place holder of the regular league meets the 8th place holder in a series of three matches, then the semi-finals and the final is a series of 5 matches.
  4. Classification stages: possibly, the lower-ranked teams from the regular season play each other in a play-off format to determine the final rankings as well as relegation.[citation needed]

Clubs

2023–24 teams

The following 16 teams play in the 2023–24 Egyptian Basketball Premier League:.

Club Location Venue
Al Ahly Cairo Al Ahly Sports Hall
Al Ittihad Alexandria Kamal Shalaby Hall
Al Gaish Army Cairo Tala'ea El Gaish Hall
Aviation Club Cairo
Al Zohour Cairo
Desouk Desouk
Eastern Company Cairo
El Shams Cairo
Egypt Insurance Cairo
Gezira Cairo (Zamalek) Cairo Stadium
Heliopolis Cairo Heliopolis Hall
Horse Owners' Club Alexandria
Olympic Club Alexandria El Olympi Arena
Smouha Alexandria Smouha Arena
Sporting Alexandria Alexandria Sporting Club Hall
Suez Canal Ismailia
Telecom Egypt Cairo
Zamalek Giza Abdulrahman Fawzi Hall

Former teams

Club Location Founded Last season
6th of October SC 6th of October 1984 2020
Desouk Desouk
El Shams Cairo 1962 2022
El Teram Cairo 2019
Geziret El Ward Cairo 2021
Horse Owners' Club Alexandria 1934 2023
Tanta Tanta 1928 2022

Titles by club

Thus far, five teams have won the Premier League at least once. Zamalek holds the record for most championship with fifteen titles.[1][2][3]

Club Titles Winning seasons
Zamalek 15 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2018–19, 2020–21
Al Ittihad 14 1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1998–99, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2019–20, 2023–24
Gezira 11 1972–73, 1992–93, 1993–94, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2016–17
Al Ahly 7 1988–89, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2011–12, 2015–16, 2021–22, 2022–23
Sporting 3 2012–13, 2014–15, 2017–18

List of champions

Season Champion Series Runners-up MVP Ref.
1972–73 Gezira (1)
1973–74 Zamalek (1)
1974–75 Zamalek (2)
1975–76 Zamalek (3)
1976–77 Zamalek (4)
1977–78 Zamalek (5)
1978–79 Al Ittihad (1)
1979–80 Zamalek (6)
1980–81 Zamalek (7)
1981–82 Al Ittihad (2)
1982–83 Al Ittihad (3)
1983–84 Al Ittihad (4)
1984–85 Cancelled
1985–86 Al Ittihad (5)
1986–87 Al Ittihad (6)
1987–88 Zamalek (8)
1988–89 Al Ahly (1)
1989–90 Al Ittihad (7)
1990–91 Zamalek (9)
1991–92 Al Ittihad (8)
1992–93 Gezira (2)
1993–94 Gezira (3)
1994–95 Al Ittihad (9)
1995–96 Cancelled
1996–97 Zamalek (10)
1997–98 Zamalek (11)
1998–99 Al Ittihad (10)
1999–00 Al Ahly (2)
2000–01 Al Ahly (3)
2001–02 Gezira (4)
2002–03 Zamalek (12) [4]
2003–04 Gezira (5) [5]
2004–05 Gezira (6) [6]
2005–06 Gezira (7) [7]
2006–07 Zamalek (13)
2007–08 Gezira (8) — Zamalek —
2008–09 Al Ittihad (11) — Al Ahly Wael Badr [8]
2009–10 Al Ittihad (12) — Gezira —
2010–11 Gezira (9) — Zamalek —
2011–12 Al Ahly (4) — Gezira —
2012–13 Sporting Alexandria (1) — Al Ittihad —
2013–14 Gezira (10) — Al Ittihad —
2014–15 Sporting Alexandria (2) — Al Ittihad MaJic Dorsey
2015–16 Al Ahly (5) — Sporting Alexandria Un­known
2016–17 Gezira (11) — Sporting Alexandria Un­known
2017–18 Sporting Alexandria (3) Un­known
2018–19 Zamalek (14) 3–2 Gezira Terrell Stoglin
2019–20 Al Ittihad (13) 3–1 Al Ahly Ismail Ahmed
2020–21 Zamalek (15) 3–2 Al Ittihad Anas Mahmoud
2021–22 Al Ahly (6) 3–2 Al Ittihad Ehab Amin
2022–23 Al Ahly (7) 3–1 Al Ittihad Ehab Amin [9]
2023–24 Al Ittihad (14) 3–1 Al Ahly Ahmed Adel [10]

References

  1. ^ "الزمالك يهزم الاتحاد ويتوج بطلًا لدوري السلة المصري". يلاكورة.كوم. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  2. ^ "أبطال دوري السلة في مصر عبر التاريخ". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  3. ^ "Egypt BasketBall | سجل بطولات الدوري العام الممتاز (أ) رجال".
  4. ^ Superleague: Season 2002-2003
  5. ^ Superleague: Season 2003-2004
  6. ^ Superleague: Season 2004-2005
  7. ^ Detailed Winners List
  8. ^ Superleague: Season 2008-2009
  9. ^ "الخطيب يهنئ لاعبي السلة وجهازهم الفني والإداري والطبي ببطولة دوري السوبر". Al Ahly (in Arabic). 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  10. ^ "الاتحاد السكندري يهزم الأهلي ويتوج بلقب دوري السوبر لكرة السلة". btolat.com (in Arabic). 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-06-14.