Burundian Basketball Championship
Basketball league
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Burundian Basketball Championship (in French: Championnat National du Burundi), also known as the Amstel Basketball League and previously Viva Basketball League for sponsorship reasons, is a semi-professional basketball league that is the highest level of the sport in Burundi. The league is organised by the Fédération de Basketball du Burundi (FEBABU).
R
Burundi | |
| Organising body | FEBUBA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2022 (as Viva Basketball League) |
| Country | Burundi |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| International cup | Basketball Africa League (BAL) |
| Current champions | Urunani (18th title) (2026) |
| Most championships | Urunani (18 titles)[1] |
In 2022, the league signed a 4-year sponsorship contract with malt drink producer Viva; the winners of the league win a prize money of 10 million FBu (approximately $4,800).[2]
Current teams
List of winners
- 2012: Urunani
- 2013: Urunani
- 2014: Urunani
- 2015:
- 2016: Dynamo
- 2017:
- 2018: New Star
- 2019: Dynamo
- 2021: New Star
- 2022: Urunani
- 2023: Dynamo
- 2024: Urunani
- 2025: Dynamo
Finals
National Championship
| Season | Champions | Runners-up | Score | MVP | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 |
Urunani | [6] | |||
2011 |
|||||
| 2012 | Urunani | New Star | 69–59 | Elvis Gafyisi | |
| 2013 | Urunani | New Star | – |
[7] | |
| 2014 | Urunani | New Star | 50–54 | Willy Nijimbere | [8] |
2015 |
Urunani | [6] | |||
| 2016 | Dynamo | Imbeya | 72–59 | – |
[9] |
2017 |
|||||
| 2018 | New Star | Gymkhana | – |
[10] | |
| 2019 | Dynamo | Urunani | 76–54 | Jean Hakizimana | |
| 2021 | New Star | Muzinga Ngozi | 74–61 | – |
[11] |
Viva Basketball League (2022–present)
| Season | Champions | Runners-up | Finals score | MVP | Winning coach | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Urunani | New Star | 76–66 |
– |
Aron Kagabo | [2] |
| 2023 | Dynamo | Urunani | 4–2 |
– |
Olivier Ndayiragije | [12] |
2024 |
Urunani | Dynamo | 4–3 |
Jean Jacques Boissy | Olivier Ndayiragije | [13] |
2025 |
Dynamo | Urunani | 4–3 |
Etienne Tametong | Julien Chaignot | [14] |
2026 |
Urunani | Dynamo | 4–3 |
Romis Bujeje | Elvis Hakizimana | [15] |
In international competitions
FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup
Urunani is the only Burundian team to have played in the FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup, the top-tier competition on the African continent. They played in the 2011 tournament,[16] and in the 2013 tournament.[17]
BAL
Dynamo qualified successfully for the 2024 season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).[18] Dynamo defeated the Malagasy team COSPN 79–78 in the third place game, became the first team from Burundi to play in the league, and the first Elite 16 wild card to advance to the main tournament.[18]
In the opening day game between Dynamo and South Africa's Cape Town Tigers, the Burundian side taped off the logo of league sponsor Visit Rwanda. Political tensions between the two border nations Burundi and Rwanda had been rising, as Burundi has accused Rwanda of supporting the RED-Tabara rebel militia in the country.[19][20] Dynamo forfeited their second game against FUS Rabat on 10 March, with the BAL citing "refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements" as the reason why.[21] Following Dynamo's second forfeit on 12 March, the team was automatically withdrawn from the group as per FIBA rules.[22] Dynamo players Bryton Hobbs and Makhtar Gueye stated that the Burundian government had prohibited the team to wear the logo and ordered the club to forfeit its games if necessary.[19][23]
| Season | Representative | Road to BAL | Main competition | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W% | Result | Qualified | W | L | W% | Result | |||
| 2021 | Dynamo | 1 | 3 | .250 | First Round |  |
DNQ | ||||
| 2022 | New Star | 4 | 2 | .667 | Fourth Place | | |||||
| 2023 | Urunani | 5 | 3 | .625 | Fourth Place | | |||||
| 2024 | Dynamo | 4 | 4 | .500 |  Third Place |
 |
0 | 1 | .000 | Disqualified | |
| 2025 | Urunani | 8 | 1 | .889 | Third Place |
|
DNQ | ||||
| Total | 22 | 13 | .629 | 0 | 1 | .000 | |||||
Heroes Cup
The Heroes Cup (in French: Coupe des Heros) is a cup competition that is held to celebrate the Independence of Burundi and to commemorate its national heroes. It was established in 2017, and is organised by the non-profit organization Fondation Pax-Burundi.[24] Teams from the first championship participate, as well as teams from the B Division.[24]
| Edition | Season | Champions | Runners-up | Score | MVP | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017 | Dynamo | Muzinga | 53–48 | – | [24] |
| 2 | 2018 | Dynamo (2) | Urunani | 71–34 | [25] | |
| 3 | 2019 | Urunani | Gymkana | 60–55 | [26] | |
| 4 | 2020 | Dynamo (3) | Muzinga Ngozi | 72–62 | Amani Rushoza | [27] |
| 5 | 2021 | Urunani (2) | Dynamo | N/A | [28] | |
| 6 | 2022 | Urunani (3) | Dynamo | 82–81 | [29] | |
| 7 | 2023 | Dynamo (4) | Urunani | 52–45 | [30] | |
| 8 | 2024 | |||||
| 9 | 2025 | Dynamo (5) | Remesha | 78–59 | [31] |
