Jump to content

Balkan International Basketball League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from BIBL)
"BIBL" redirects here. For the airport in Iceland, see Blonduos Airport.
Balkan International Basketball League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023–24 BIBL season
BIBL Official Logo
SportBasketball
Founded2008
No. of teamsVariable by season
CountriesCurrent countries
 Bulgaria
 Cyprus
 Israel
 Kosovo
 Montenegro
 North Macedonia
Former countries
ContinentFIBA Europe (Europe)
Most recent
champion(s)		Kosovo Sigal Prishtina (3rd title)
Most titlesKosovo Sigal Prishtina (3 titles)
TV partner(s)RIK 2
sportmedia.tv
YouTube
RTSH
Official websitebalkanleague.net

The Balkan International Basketball League (BIBL), also known as the Balkan League and as the Delasport BIBL Balkan League for sponsorship reasons, is a multinational professional basketball league featuring clubs primarily from the Balkans. The league includes teams from countries such as Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Cyprus, and Israel. The most recent league champion is Sigal Prishtina from Kosovo.

The purpose of the Balkan International Basketball League is to provide competitive international play for clubs in the Balkans that might otherwise be unable to participate in international basketball. The league achieves this by providing financial support to all participating clubs to offset the costs associated with international competition.[1] Notably, the league is also the first international league of its kind to include teams from Kosovo.

Format

[edit]

After the 2017–2018 season, the Balkan International Basketball League introduced a new, simplified competition format. Under this format, the competition typically features between 6 and 8 teams. The tournament is divided into two phases: the regular season, where all participating teams play each other in a double round-robin format, both home and away. Following the conclusion of the regular season, the first- and second-placed teams automatically qualify for the Final Four. The third-placed team plays the sixth-placed team, and the fourth-placed team plays the fifth-placed team in home-and-away games to determine which teams will advance to the Final Four. The winning teams from these matchups then advance to the Final Four to compete for that season's BIBL Balkan League championship.[2]

Additionally, at the start of the 2020–2021 season, 12 teams from Israel participated in the league to ensure access to competitive games during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

Championships

[edit]
Season Host Champion Result Runner-up Arena
2008–09 Bulgaria Samokov Bulgaria Rilski Sportist 84–77 North Macedonia Feršped Rabotnički Arena Samokov
2009–10 Bulgaria Sofia Bulgaria Levski Sofia 77–65 Montenegro Lovćen Universiada Hall
2010–11 North Macedonia Kavadarci North Macedonia Feni Industries 88–75 Bulgaria Rilski Sportist Jasmin Sports Hall
2011–12 Israel Gan Ner Israel Hapoel Gilboa Galil 89–84 Bulgaria Levski Sofia Gan Ner Sports Hall
2012–13 Bulgaria Samokov Israel Hapoel Gilboa Galil 87–79 Bulgaria Levski Sofia Arena Samokov
2013–14 Kosovo Pristina Bulgaria Levski Sofia 75–69 Israel Hapoel Gilboa Galil Pallati i Rinisë dhe Sporteve
2014–15 Kosovo Pristina
Bulgaria Samokov		 Kosovo Sigal Prishtina 74−72
80–71		 Bulgaria Rilski Sportist Pallati i Rinisë dhe Sporteve
Arena Samokov
2015–16 Kosovo Pristina
Montenegro Bar		 Kosovo Sigal Prishtina 82−68
68−75		 Montenegro Mornar Pallati i Rinisë dhe Sporteve
Sportska dvorana Topolica
2016–17 Bulgaria Stara Zagora
North Macedonia Kumanovo		 Bulgaria Beroe 84−55
77−73		 North Macedonia Kumanovo Obshtinska zala Ivan Vazov
Sports Hall Kumanovo
2017–18 Bulgaria Samokov Bulgaria Levski Sofia 83−72 Kosovo Bashkimi Arena Samokov
2018–19 Albania Tirana North Macedonia Blokotehna 82–68 Albania Teuta Feti Borova Sport Hall
2019–20 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Israel Holon Israel Hapoel Holon 91–75 Bulgaria Academic Plovdiv Holon Toto Hall
2021–22 Israel Nahariya Israel Hapoel Galil Elyon 86–70 Israel Maccabi Haifa Ein Sara Sport Hall
2022–23 Bulgaria Stara Zagora Israel Hapoel Be'er Sheva/Dimona 99−95 Kosovo Peja Obshtinska zala Ivan Vazov
2023-24 Cyprus Limassol Kosovo Sigal Prishtina 72−67 Cyprus PAYABL EKA AEL Nicos Solomonides Arena

Titles by club

[edit]
Club Championships Runner-ups Championship years
1 Kosovo Sigal Prishtina 3 — 2014–15, 2015–16, 2023−24
2 Bulgaria Levski Sofia 3 2 2009–10, 2013–14, 2017–18
3 Israel Hapoel Gilboa Galil 2 1 2011–12, 2012–13
4 Bulgaria Rilski Sportist 1 2 2008–09
5 North Macedonia Feni Industries 1 — 2010–11
Bulgaria Beroe 2016–17
North Macedonia Blokotehna 2018–19
Israel Hapoel Holon 2020–21
Israel Hapoel Galil Elyon 2021–22
Israel Hapoel Be'er Sheva/Dimona 2022–23
10 North Macedonia Feršped Rabotnički — 1
Montenegro Lovćen
Montenegro Mornar
North Macedonia Kumanovo
Kosovo Bashkimi
Albania Teuta
Bulgaria Academic Plovdiv
Israel Maccabi Haifa
Kosovo Peja
Cyprus PAYABL EKA AEL


Titles by country

[edit]
Country Championships Runner-ups Championship years
1  Bulgaria 5 5 2008–09, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18
2  Israel 5 2 2011–12, 2012–13, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
3  Kosovo 3 2 2014–15, 2015-16, 2023–24
4  North Macedonia 2 2 2011-12, 2018-19
5  Montenegro — 2
6  Albania — 1
7  Cyprus — 1

Clubs (2023-24 season)

[edit]
Team Arena Capacity Country
AEL Limassol B.C. Nicos Solomonides Arena 2,500  Limassol, CYP
Sigal Prishtina Pallati I Rinise Dhe Sportheve 2,800  Pristina, KOS
KK Lovćen 1947 Sportski Center Cetinje 1,500  Lovćen, MNE
KK Pljevlja Sport Cener Ada 3,500  Pljevlja, MNE
KB Peja Karakaci Arena 2,500  Peja, KOS

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "BIBL 10th season – road from 2008-2009 to 2017-2018".
  2. ^ "BIBL 10th season 2017-2018 New Competition System".
  3. ^ "Balkan League moving to Israel with the addition of 12 Winner League teams". 2 October 2020.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balkan_International_Basketball_League&oldid=1243406582"