Report.az
The start date and regulations of the XXXI Azerbaijan Basketball Championship have been determined.
The press service of the Azerbaijan Basketball Federation informed "Report" about this.
The 2025/26 season in the Azerbaijan Basketball League (ABL) will start on September 28. According to the regulations, the championship games will be held in a four-round, 20-tour system. The regular season games will be held in "A" and "B" groups. Based on the final results shown in the previous season, the groups in which the clubs will compete are as follows:
Group A: "Sabah" BC, "Neftchi" SC, "Shaki" BC, "Absheron Lions" BC, NTD BC, "Ganja" BC
Group B: "Nakhchivan" BC, "Ordu" SC, "Sarhadchi" PSC, "Sumgayit" BC, "Guba" BC, "Lankaran" BC
In the games of Group A of the regular championship, the main condition will be the participation of 4 foreign and 1 local basketball player on the court. In the games of Group B, it is mandatory for 3 foreign and 2 local basketball players to be on the parquet, including the 15th round, and from the 16th round, 4 foreign and 1 local basketball player. In addition to the clubs that finished in the top 3 in Group A in the regular season, the team that finished as the leader in Group B will qualify for the 1/4 final stage of the playoffs. The teams that take other places in groups "A" and "B" will face each other in the 1/8 final stage of the playoffs. The clubs that win two victories in the 1/8 finals will qualify for the 1/4 finals. Both the 1/4 final and semi-final series will last up to 2 wins. In the final series, the club that wins 3 victories will become the champion of the Azerbaijan Basketball League (ABL).
It should be noted that, based on the final results of the championship, the clubs that complete the season in the top 8 in the ranking will compete in the 1st league (ABL) from the next season, and the clubs that take 9–12 places will compete in the second league (ABL 2), which will be organized for the first time in the country's basketball.
