National basketball championship: Title holders KSA missing as new domestic season begins Saturday.

ACPBA is making its debut in the championship/ Photo credit Cameroon Tribune

Defending champions of Cameroon senior men’s national basketball championship, Kadji Sports Aacademy, KSA will be absent from the starting block when the new season opens this weekend.

The Cameroon Basketball Federation has scheduled the first two match days in Nkongsamba on Saturday January 18 and Sunday January 19 and KSA isn’t among the eight clubs listed to compete this season. 



Last season, Kadji Sports Academy ended FAP’s four consecutive title-winning run in the championship to win the 2024 edition of the competition.

After the domestic success, the club went forward to record a decent run in the qualifying stages of 2025 series of the Basketball Africa League, Africa’s biggest club basketball competition for men. 

Despite the successes, sources say the club will not compete in the domestic championship this season after it withdrew from the championship. 

The reasons behind the club’s decision remain unclear, though some observers blame it on financial challenges at the level of the franchise while others link the decision to purely administrative choices.

The withdrawal of the Littoral Region club from the competition this season is expected to make things easy for BEAC and FAP both of Yaounde. 

Both FAP and BEAC made it to the play off phase of the championship last season before they were eliminated by the Kadji Sports Academy outfit. 

Since news about the team’s withdrawal from the competition this season came out, several players that represented the team last season switched to other clubs in the championship. 

 

Three newcomers

Two newcomers will be competing in the championship this season. The duo includes Moungo Zone of Nkongsamba from the Littoral Region and Africans Can Play Basketball Academy which is known by its abbreviation as ACPBA.

ACPBA secured its qualification ticket to the competition at the end of a qualifying tournament organised in Douala last month.

Moungo Zone qualified after it was brought on board to replace Kadji Sports Academy. 

The Nkongsamba team was third on the final classification table of the qualifying tournament held in December, sitting behind Falcons and ACPBA.

Falcons on its side, was forced to compete in the qualifying competition in Douala after it concluded the 2024 season in the topflight championship sitting rock-bottom on the final classification table. 

 

A scintillating opening weekend expected in Nkongsamba 

Despite the absence of KSA in the championship, the opening weekend of the competition this season is expected to be a highly scintillating and crowd-pulling one. 

All the eight matches of the weekend will be played at Lycee de Manengouba in Nkongsamba. 

The season opener will pit Ecole de Basket from the Littoral Region against six-time league title winners BEAC of Yaounde. The game will kick off at 8am. 

Moungo Zone will entertain FAP of Yaounde in the second game set for 10am before Douala Firebirds lock horns with Alph basketball club of Yaounde two hours later. 

Falcons of Yaounde will face Africans Can Play Basketball-Academy, ACPBA.

The second day of matches which is programmed for Sunday January 19 will be kick-started by the fixture between Falcons and BEAC at 8am.

Douala Firebirds will face four-time winners FAP at 10am, two hours before Moungo Zone and Alph go head-to-head at 12pm. 

The day’s matches will be concluded by a 2pm fixture between Ecole de Basket and ACPBA. 

The women’s championship begins on Saturday January 25. 

 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3340 of Thursday January 16, 2025

 

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