The Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia) is an annual continental club men's basketball competition organised by FIBA Asia. It is the highest level club competition for basketball in Asia.
Introduced in 1981 as the Asian Basketball Club Championship, the competition rebranded in 2004 to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, and lasted until 2019. In 2024, the tournament was relaunched as the Basketball Champions League Asia.
History Earlier iterations (1981–2019) The Asia Champions Cup was organised by the Asian Basketball Confederation in 1981, when the inaugural tournament was hosted in Hong Kong. The first-ever champions were the Bayi Rockets from China. In 1995, the name of the competition was changed to the ABC Champions Cup. After the ABC became integrated in FIBA in 2004, the competition was rebranded as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.
In the 1990s, FIBA announced plans to expand the Intercontinental Cup with the teams from the BCL Asia, Basketball Africa League (BAL), NBL, and the NBA, at some point in the future.Esportes.Opovobr Com Copa Intercontinental, Fiba ensaia Campeonato Mundial. Estadao.com Pinheiros e Olympiacos começam a disputar o título da Intercontinental.
Al Riyadi Club Beirut and Sagesse from Lebanon are the most successful clubs in the history of the competition, having won three titles each. Clubs from Lebanon and Iran have the most combined titles, with a total of six each.
BCL Asia era (2024–present) In 2024, it was announced that the tournament will be renamed as the Basketball Champions League Asia, a name in line with other continental competitions in the Americas and Europe. The 2024 edition was the 29th top-tier club competition in Asia following a 5-year hiatus.
In 2025, the BCL Asia qualifying rounds renamed as BCL Asia – East.
In 2026, the top performing East Asia Super League (EASL) teams representing B.League, Korean Basketball League and the Philippine Basketball Association will secure direct qualification to BCL Asia. On July 21, the FIBA modified the qualification structure for BCL Asia. The best-ranked EASL teams from Japan and Korea, and the best-ranked EASL team overall excluding teams from Japan and Korea would secure direct qualification to BCL Asia.
The winner of the competition gets a spot in the annual FIBA Intercontinental Cup tournament.
Qualification As of the 2026 season, teams can qualify for the BCL Asia directly through the national league, the East Asia Super League, West Asia Super League or the Basketball Champions League Asia – East (BCL Asia – East).
+Allocated spots in the Basketball Champions League AsiaMethodScopeLeague Direct qualification ChinaChinese Basketball AssociationEast Asia Super League JapanB.League South KoreaKorean Basketball League Chinese Taipei Hong Kong Macau Mongolia PhilippinesBest-ranked team overallWest Asia Super LeagueCentral, South, West Asia and GulfWest Asia Super League championWest Asia Super League runner-upBCL Asia – EastEast and Southeast AsiaBCL Asia – East championBCL Asia – East runner-up
Format The nine teams play in three round-of-robin groups of three, with each playing two games. The top eight teams from overall group phase advance to the final phase, where they play single-elimination games for final classification.
Summary It includes all top-tier competitions since 1981. Results Asian Basketball Club Championship / ABC Champions Cup / FIBA Asia Champions Cup (1981–2019) Year Host Final Third place gameChampionScoreRunner-upThirdScoreFourth11981Hong KongBayi RocketsNo playoffsNippon KokanApcorNo playoffsIndustry Bank21984IpohNorthern Cement82–56Bayi RocketsKuang Hua82–68PKN Selangor31988JakartaSwift-PABL84–69Liaoning HuntersSamsung Electronics88–66Pandan Jaya41990JakartaLiaoning HuntersNo playoffsBank of KoreaKazmaNo playoffsShahrdari Isfahan51992BangkokKia MotorsNo playoffsLiaoning HuntersKazmaNo playoffsThai Ruamsin61995Kuala LumpurAndok's101–82PetronasKia MotorsNo dataAl-Ahli71996ManilaHapee Toothpaste77–74Isuzu LynxGuangdong Winnerway80–64Petronas81997JakartaRegal64–59Kia MotorsAspac78–52Isuzu Giga Cats91998Kuala LumpurBeijing Hanwei71–70RegalAl-Riyadi87–77Hyundai Dynat101999BeirutSagesse84–71Liaoning HuntersPetronas58–55Al-Ittihad112000BeirutSagesse55–52Al-IttihadAl-Manama92–69Al-Qadsia122001DubaiAl-Ittihad103–101(OT)Al-RayyanAl-Wahda93–79Winling132002Kuala LumpurAl-Rayyan92–78Al-IttihadAl-Wahda104–63Sangmu142003Kuala LumpurAl-Wahda96–63Al-RayyanSangmu Phoenix91–82Al-Ittihad152004SharjahSagesse72–70Al-WahdaAl-Rayyan82–80Sangmu Phoenix162005Quezon CityAl-Rayyan83–76FastlinkSagesse74–71Saba Battery Tehran172006Kuwait CityFastlink94–69Al-Jalaa AleppoAl-Rayyan102–64Al-Ittihad182007TehranSaba Battery Tehran83–75Al-Jalaa AleppoAl-Rayyan95–75San Miguel-Magnolia192008Kuwait CitySaba Battery Tehran82–75ZainAl-Wasl95–75Al-Riyadi Beirut202009JakartaMahram Tehran78–68Al-RayyanAl-Riyadi94–81Al-Arabi212010DohaMahram Tehran93–73Al-RayyanAl-Riyadi82–78(OT)ASU222011PasigAl Riyadi91–82Mahram TehranAl-Rayyan71–64Smart Gilas232012Beirutcolspan="2" Al-Riyadi Mahram TehranDuhok73–58Belent Ashgabat242013AmmanFoolad Mahan Isfahan84–74Al-RayyanASU107–76Al-Hala252016ChenzhouChina Kashgar96–88Al-RiyadiPetrochimi100–74Al-Ahli262017ChenzhouAl Riyadi88–59China KashgarBC Astana81–78Petrochimi272018NonthaburiPetrochimi Bandar Imam68–64Alvark TokyoSeoul SK Knights91–87Meralco Bolts282019NonthaburiAlvark Tokyo98–74Al-RiyadiPalayesh Naft Abadan81–69Al-Muharraq— 2020Guangzhoucolspan="7" rowspan="2" — 2022Dubai
Basketball Champions League Asia Year Host Final Third place gameChampionScoreRunner-upThirdScoreFourth12024DubaiAl Riyadi122–96Shabab Al AhliHiroshima Dragonflies81–76Shahrdari Gorgan22025DubaiUtsunomiya Brex94–93Al RiyadiUlaanbaatar Xac Broncos84–79Shabab Al Ahli—2026colspan="7"
Notes
Records and statistics
It includes all top-tier competitions since 1981.
Asia's top tier competitions FIBA Asia took control in 2004.
1981–1994, Asian Basketball Club Championship 1995–2003, Asian Basketball Confederation Champions Cup (or ABC Champions Cup) (renamed) 2004–2022, FIBA Asia Champions Cup (renamed) 2024–present, Basketball Champions League Asia
Titles by nation
It includes all top-tier competitions since 1981.
Awards MVP Asian Basketball Club Championship / ABC Champions Cup (1995-2003) 1995: Bobby Parks 1996: Tony Harris 1997: Wayman Strickland 1998: Michael Cumberland 1999: Assane N'Diaye 2000: Elie Mechantaf 2001: Johnny Rhodes 2002: Kris Johnson 2003: Andre Pitts
FIBA Asia Champions Cup (2004-2019) 2004: 2005: Fadi El Khatib 2006: 2007: Samad Nikkhah Bahrami 2008: Gabe Muoneke 2009: Jackson Vroman 2010: 2011: Fadi El Khatib (2) 2012: not awarded 2013: 2016: Dewarick Spencer 2017: Darius Adams 2018: Daiki Tanaka 2019: Alex Kirk
Basketball Champions League Asia (2024-present) 2024: Wael Arakji 2025: D.J. Newbill
Topscorer
See also East Asia Super League FIBA West Asia Super League Women's Basketball League Asia ASEAN Basketball League
References General Official website of FIBA Asia
Specific
External links FIBA Asia club competitions