Balkan International Basketball League

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. Notably, the league is also the first international league of its kind to include teams from Kosovo.

Format

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.

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.

Championships

Season	Host		Champion	Result	Runner-up	Arena
2008–09	Template:Flagicon Samokov		Template:Flagicon Rilski Sportist	84–77	Template:Flagicon Feršped Rabotnički	Arena Samokov
2009–10	Template:Flagicon Sofia		Template:Flagicon Levski Sofia	77–65	Template:Flagicon Lovćen	Universiada Hall
2010–11	Template:Flagicon Kavadarci		Template:Flagicon Feni Industries	88–75	Template:Flagicon Rilski Sportist	Jasmin Sports Hall
2011–12	Template:Flagicon Gan Ner		Template:Flagicon Hapoel Gilboa Galil	89–84	Template:Flagicon Levski Sofia	Gan Ner Sports Hall
2012–13	Template:Flagicon Samokov		Template:Flagicon Hapoel Gilboa Galil	87–79	Template:Flagicon Levski Sofia	Arena Samokov
2013–14	Template:Flagicon Pristina		Template:Flagicon Levski Sofia	75–69	Template:Flagicon Hapoel Gilboa Galil	Pallati i Rinisë dhe Sporteve
2014–15	Template:Flagicon Pristina Template:Flagicon Samokov		Template:Flagicon Sigal Prishtina	74−72 80–71	Template:Flagicon Rilski Sportist	Pallati i Rinisë dhe Sporteve Arena Samokov
2015–16	Template:Flagicon Pristina Template:Flagicon Bar		Template:Flagicon Sigal Prishtina	82−68 68−75	Template:Flagicon Mornar	Pallati i Rinisë dhe Sporteve Sportska dvorana Topolica
2016–17	Template:Flagicon Stara Zagora Template:Flagicon Kumanovo		Template:Flagicon Beroe	84−55 77−73	Template:Flagicon Kumanovo	Obshtinska zala Ivan Vazov Sports Hall Kumanovo
2017–18	Template:Flagicon Samokov		Template:Flagicon Levski Sofia	83−72	Template:Flagicon Bashkimi	Arena Samokov
2018–19	Template:Flagicon Tirana		Template:Flagicon Blokotehna	82–68	Template:Flagicon Teuta	Feti Borova Sport Hall
2019–20	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	Template:Flagicon Holon	Template:Flagicon Hapoel Holon	91–75	Template:Flagicon Academic Plovdiv	Holon Toto Hall
2021–22	Template:Flagicon Nahariya	Template:Flagicon Hapoel Galil Elyon	86–70	Template:Flagicon Maccabi Haifa	Ein Sara Sport Hall
2022–23	Template:Flagicon Stara Zagora	Template:Flagicon Hapoel Be'er Sheva/Dimona	99−95	Template:Flagicon Peja	Obshtinska zala Ivan Vazov
2023-24	Template:Flagicon Limassol	Template:Flagicon Sigal Prishtina	72−67	Template:Flagicon PAYABL EKA AEL	Nicos Solomonides Arena
2024–25	Cancelled due to War in Israel

Titles by club

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

Titles by country

	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	Template:Country data North Macedonia	2	2	2011-12, 2018-19
5	Montenegro	—	2
6	Albania	—	1
7	Cyprus	—	1

Clubs (2023-24 season)

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

External links

• BIBL Official Website
• Eurobasket.com League Page
• BallinEurope.com Article