The start date for the 2025/26 season of the Azerbaijan Basketball League (ABL) has been announced.
Idman.biz reports that the championship will begin on September 28.
According to the regulations, ABL games will consist of four rounds and 20 match days. Regular season games will be divided into Group A and Group B. Based on their final results from last season, the groups for this season are as follows:
Group A: Sabah, Neftchi, Shaki, Absheron Lions, NTD, Ganja
Group B: Nakhchivan, Ordu, Sarhadchi, Sumgayit, Guba, Lankaran
In Group A regular-season games, the participation of 4 foreign players and at least 1 local player on the court will be mandatory. In Group B games, up to the 15th round, 3 foreign players and 2 local players must be on the court, while from the 16th round onward, 4 foreign players and 1 local player will be mandatory.
At the end of the regular season, the top 3 clubs from Group A and the leader of Group B will advance directly to the quarterfinals of the playoffs. The remaining clubs from Groups A and B will face each other in the round of 16, where the first to win two games will advance to the quarterfinals. Both the quarterfinal and semifinal series will continue until a team achieves two victories.
In the final series, the first club to win three games will be crowned the ABL champion.
Based on the final standings of the championship, clubs finishing in the top 8 will compete in the 1st league (ABL) next season, while those placing 9th to 12th will participate in the newly established 2nd league (ABL 2) for the first time in the country’s basketball history.
Idman.biz
