The Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia), formerly the FIBA Asia Champions Cup,[1] is an annual continental club basketball competition organised by FIBA Asia. It is the highest level club competition for professional basketball in Asia.
| Organising body | FIBA Asia |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 |
| First season | 1981 |
| Region | Asia |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Promotion to | FIBA Intercontinental Cup |
| Current champions |  Alvark Tokyo (1st title) (2019) |
| Most championships |  Sagesse (3 titles) |
 2024 Basketball Champions League Asia | |
Introduced in 1981, as the Asian Basketball Club Championship, the competition rebranded in 2004 to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup. In 2024, it was announced that the tournament will be renamed as the Basketball Champions League Asia.[2]
History edit
The competition was first organised by the Asian Basketball Confederation in 1981, when the inaugural tournament was hosted in Hong Kong. The first-ever champions were the Bayi Rockets from China. In 1995, the name of the competition was changed to the ABC Champions Cup. After the ABC became integrated in FIBA in 2004, the competition was rebranded as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.
In the 1990s, FIBA announced plans to expand the Intercontinental Cup with the teams from the BCL Asia, Basketball Africa League (BAL), NBL, and the NBA, at some point in the future.[3][4]
In 2024, it was announced that the tournament will be renamed as the Basketball Champions League Asia, a name in line with other continental competitions in the Americas and Europe.[2]
Sagesse is the most successful club in the history of the competition, having won three titles. However, clubs from Iran have the most combined titles, with a total of six.
Qualification edit
As of the 2024 season, teams can qualify for the BCL Asia directly through their national leagues, through the FIBA West Asia Super League or through the qualifying rounds.
| Method | Country | League |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Qualification |  China
|
Chinese Basketball Association |
 South Korea
|
Korean Basketball League | |
| Japan
|
B.League | |
 Philippines
|
Philippine Basketball Association | |
| FIBA Zonal Leagues | Central, West Asia and Gulf | FIBA West Asia Super League champions |
| FIBA West Asia Super League runners-up | ||
| Qualifying tournaments | East and Southeast Asia | Winners of the qualifying round |
| Runers-up of the qualifying round |
Summary edit
Titles by club edit
| Club | Champions | Runners-up | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sagesse
|
3 (1999, 2000, 2004) | 1 (2005) | |
 Al-Rayyan
|
2 (2002, 2005) | 5 (2001, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2013) | 4 (2004, 2006, 2007, 2011) |
| Al-Riyadi Beirut
|
2 (2011, 2017) | 3 (2012, 2016, 2019) | 3 (1998, 2009, 2010) |
 Mahram Tehran
|
2 (2009, 2010) | 2 (2011, 2012) | |
| Saba Battery Tehran
|
2 (2007, 2008) | ||
| Liaoning Hunters
|
1 (1990) | 3 (1988, 1992, 1999) | |
 Al-Ittihad
|
1 (2001) | 2 (2000, 2002) | |
 Zain
|
1 (2006) | 2 (2005, 2009) | |
 Al-Wahda
|
1 (2003) | 1 (2004) | 2 (2001, 2002) |
| Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus
|
1 (1992) | 1 (1997) | 1 (1995) |
| Bayi Rockets
|
1 (1981) | 1 (1984) | |
 Regal
|
1 (1997) | 1 (1998) | |
| Xinjiang Flying Tigers
|
1 (2016) | 1 (2017) | |
| Alvark Tokyo
|
1 (2019) | 1 (2018) | |
| Petrochimi Bandar Imam
|
1 (2018) | 1 (2016) | |
| Northern Cement
|
1 (1984) | ||
| Swift-PABL
|
1 (1988) | ||
| Andok's
|
1 (1995) | ||
| Hapee Toothpaste
|
1 (1996) | ||
| Beijing Hanwei
|
1 (1998) | ||
| Foolad Mahan Isfahan
|
1 (2013) | ||
| Al-Jalaa Aleppo
|
2 (2006, 2007) | ||
 Petronas
|
1 (1995) | 1 (1999) | |
| Nippon Kokan
|
1 (1981) | ||
| Bank of Korea
|
1 (1990) | ||
| Isuzu Lynx
|
1 (1996) | ||
 Kazma
|
2 (1990, 1992) | ||
| Apcor
|
1 (1981) | ||
 Kuang Hua
|
1 (1984) | ||
| Seoul Samsung Thunders
|
1 (1988) | ||
| Guangdong Southern Tigers
|
1 (1996) | ||
 Aspac
|
1 (1997) | ||
 Al-Manama
|
1 (2000) | ||
| Sangmu Phoenix
|
1 (2003) | ||
 Al-Wasl
|
1 (2008) | ||
 Duhok
|
1 (2012) | ||
| ASU
|
1 (2013) | ||
 BC Astana
|
1 (2017) | ||
| Seoul SK Knights
|
1 (2018) | ||
| Palayesh Naft Abadan
|
1 (2019) |
Titles by country edit
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | Lebanon | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 3 | China | 4 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| 4 | Philippines | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Qatar | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 6 | Syria | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | Japan | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | South Korea | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 9 | Jordan | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 10 | Saudi Arabia | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 |  Malaysia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Kuwait | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | Bahrain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Chinese Taipei | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Iraq | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| United Arab Emirates | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (19 entries) | 27 | 29 | 28 | 84 | |
See also edit
References edit
- General
- Specific
- ^ "22ND FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONS CUP". fibaasia.net. Archived from the original on May 13, 2012.
- ^ a b "Mongolia, Indonesia to host BCL Asia Qualifying rounds". FIBA. February 29, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ Esportes.Opovobr Com Copa Intercontinental, Fiba ensaia Campeonato Mundial. Archived January 17, 2019, at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese)
- ^ Estadao.com Pinheiros e Olympiacos começam a disputar o título da Intercontinental. (in Portuguese)
- ^ "FIBA Asia Board Meeting Decisions" (PDF). Basketball Association of Singapore. FIBA Asia. August 3, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ a b "Bayi Rockets soar to first FIBA Asia Champions Cup". FIBA. October 22, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2024.