Egypt Basketball Association removes professional players from Associated League

The Egyptian Basketball Association has abolished the participation of professional players in the Associated League to give Egyptian players more opportunities, according to Mohamed Fathy, the association’s vice-president and competitions supervisor.

“The competition system was amended by cancelling the participation of the professional player, to give the Egyptian player a greater chance to appear, which will benefit the national teams,” Fathy told FilGoal.

The tournament will now be played on a home-and-away basis across four groups, Fathy added.

The Associated League begins on Friday, 18 September 2026, with the first legs of the preliminary round. Each tie involves both the senior men’s team and the associated under-16 side, with 16 clubs taking part.

The competition will determine the first-round match-ups in the Super League, which qualifies for the African League, with teams’ positions in the Associated League used to establish the pairings.

The 16 participating clubs are Al Ahly, Al Ittihad Alexandria, Telecom Egypt, Zamalek, Petrojet, Sporting, Smouha, Al Gezira, El Qanah, Tala’ea El Gaish, Heliopolis, El Olympi, Ashab El Gehad, El Said, El Zohour and Damanhour Games.

They have been divided into four groups of four.

In the preliminary phase, a team earns two points for winning its men’s and under-16 associated matches, while the defeated team receives one point.

The winner of each group advances directly to the quarter-finals. The teams finishing second and third will contest home-and-away play-off matches for the remaining places in the last eight.

“Each group winner will qualify for the quarter-finals, while the teams finishing second and third in every group will play home and away,” said Fathy.

“For example, the second-placed team in Group One will meet the third-placed team in Group Three, and the winner will advance to the quarter-finals.”

He added that points difference, followed by goal difference, will decide which team progresses. In the competition final, however, a deciding match will be played if the teams are level on points.

Preliminary round – first legs

18 September 2026

Al Ahly v Ashab El Gehad Petrojet v El Qanah Telecom Egypt v El Zohour Zamalek v Damanhour Games Al Ittihad Alexandria v El Said Sporting v Tala’ea El Gaish Al Gezira v El Olympi Smouha v Heliopolis

21 September 2026

El Qanah v Al Ahly Ashab El Gehad v Petrojet Tala’ea El Gaish v Al Ittihad Alexandria El Said v Sporting Heliopolis v Telecom Egypt El Zohour v Smouha El Olympi v Zamalek Damanhour Games v Al Gezira

24 September 2026

Al Ahly v Petrojet El Qanah v Ashab El Gehad Al Ittihad Alexandria v Sporting Tala’ea El Gaish v El Said Telecom Egypt v Smouha Heliopolis v El Zohour Zamalek v Al Gezira El Olympi v Damanhour Games