By Victor Kanayo
Basketball governing body, FIBA, has conducted the draw and released fixtures for the 2025 Afrobasket qualifier.
The Fixtures
According to the fixtures, 20 teams were drawn into five groups of four teams with Olympics-bound South Sudan headlining Group A that has Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mali with the winner of the pre-qualifiers in Zone 6 Mauritius and Comoros completing the list.
Nigeria are placed in group B of the draw and they will compete against Cape Verde and Uganda as well as the winner of the pre-qualifiers between Zone 1 and 2.
In the other fixtures, the 2021 bronze medalists Senegal have been pitted against Cameroon who finished last in the last edition, in Group C, with Rwanda and the winner of the Zone 3 and 4 pre-qualification tournament completing the list.
Reigning silver medalists Cote D’Ivoire have landed Group D that has Zone 5 powerhouses Egypt, Central Africa Republic and the winner of the pre-qualifiers between Zone 5, Madagascar and Djibouti.
Title holders Tunisia have been pitted against Angola who finished fifth in 2021, Guinea and Kenya in Group E.
Already, the qualifiers to Africa’s elite men’s basketball competition, have been slated for February and November, 2024, with the venues set to be announced at a later date.
As revealed by FIBA via their official website, the draw to the qualifiers that will see 16 teams, joined by winners of the pre-qualification tournaments compete, was conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the sidelines of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Elite 16 East Division.
