The inaugural session of the tournament was scheduled for 13 March in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. "Following the recommendation of the Senegalese government in the face of growing health concerns related to the coronavirus, the inaugural BAL season will be postponed," announced BAL (Basketball Africa League) president Amadou Galo Fall in a statement.
The organization does not advance dates for the start of the race.
Senegal is one of six African countries with registered cases of coronavirus, with the second positive case confirmed on Tuesday.
In the African continent, according to the latest data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, a total of ten infections were registered, namely in Algeria (3), Nigeria (1), Egypt (2), Morocco (1), Tunisia (1), and Senegal (2).
The Covid-19 epidemic, which can cause serious respiratory infections such as pneumonia, has so far caused more than 3,100 deaths and infected more than 90,300 people in about 70 countries and territories, including Portugal.
Angola, where one of the stages of the BAL must also pass, decreed a ban on entry into the territory to foreign citizens from countries with indigenous cases China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, as well as African countries with registered cases Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria, from 3 March, while the epidemic lasts.
According to an order from the office of the Minister of Health, Sílvia Lucuta, dated February 28, the transport companies are obliged to inform travelers, being responsible “for their immediate repatriation”, with the inherent charges, if they do not comply with the guidelines.
According to the same document, the National Directorate of Public Health should daily update the list of countries with registered or indigenous cases, but no further information was released, despite Senegal, Tunisia and Morocco having entered the group of affected countries.
The 12 BAL teams would play five games each, for a total of 30, in seven African cities: Cairo (Egypt), Dakar (Senegal), Lagos (Nigeria), Luanda (Angola), Rabat (Morocco) and Monastir, being the final challenge in Kigali (Rwanda).
