The Algerian Basketball Championship, now called the Super Division and formally known as the ABC Super Division, is the pre-eminent men's basketballleague in Algeria. National 1 is contested by 16 teams, with the two lowest-placed teams relegated to the Second Division and replaced by the two playoff winners. From 1963 onwards, MC Alger (21 titles) and WA Boufarik (9 titles) both dominated. Darak El-Watani won 11 titles but no longer exists.
Play history
Before Algeria's independence, there were several regional leagues led by the French federation. The Algerian Basketball Championship was founded in 1962 when the country achieved independence. The first, second, and third championships were won by ASM Oran in 1963, 1964, and 1965, respectively. Capital clubs began dominating the championship starting in the 1965–66 season. USM Alger won three titles (1966, 1967, and 1969) over the next few years, with RAM Alger breaking their win streak by winning in 1968. Darak El-Watani pulled ahead with 11 titles, including six consecutive wins between 1977 and 1982. MP Alger won four times in the mid-1980s, and again in 1988–89 under the name MC Alger. WA Boufarik won five consecutive titles between 1990 and 1994 and an additional three between 1997 and 1999. IRB Alger (later renamed OC Alger) broke the first streak by winning the championships in 1994–95 and 1995–96. WA Boufarik also won four Algerian Basketball Cups in the 1990s.[citation needed]
The GS Pétroliers dominated the first 20 years of the 2000s, first as MC Alger with titles in the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons; four consecutive wins between 2003 and 2006; and one in 2007–08. The team started its run under its new name, MC Alger, with three consecutive wins (2009 to 2012), punctuated by a loss to CSM Constantine, and another six consecutive wins (2013 to 2019) before the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted play.[1]
In the 2006–07 season, there were six teams: WA Boufarik, CRB Dar El-Beida, WB Aïn Bénian, AS PTT Alger, MC Alger, and NB Staouéli. In the sixth minute of the second quarter of a mini-championship playoff game against DRB Staouéli, MC Alger left the court while the score was 28–21 in favor of DRB Staouéli. International referee Noureddine Chachoua awarded MC Alger a loss by penalty, allowing DRB Staouéli to win the championship for the first time.[2] Two seasons later, AS PPT Alger also won the title after defeating GS Pétroliers in a mini-championship 2nd tournament playoff in Hydra. At halftime, the score was 45–31[3] and increased to 81–81 by the end of the game with three seconds left. Faycal Belkhodja was able to score three points, taking the win for GS Pétroliers.[4]
The final match (best of three) system, which had been absent for most of the early 2000s, returned in the 2010–11 season. The GS Pétroliers swept CRB Dar Beida in the finals.[5] The competition system changed again; now, a tournament of 16 clubs would play 30 matches each. The club that came first in points was crowned champion. The GS Pétroliers beat US Sétif (107–65) to win their second consecutive title. They also won the Algerian Basketball Cup for the second consecutive time.[6]
The 2012–13 season brought another competition system change. Twenty clubs returned and four new ones joined. They were divided into groups A and B, with each group playing 18 matches as part of phase one. In phase two, the first four teams of each group moved on to the playoffs. The remaining teams were up for relegation. CSM Constantine beat GS Pétroliers 2–1 and won the title for the first time.[7] The team went on to represent Algeria at the 2013 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup. By the start of the next season, CSM Constantine had lost most of its star players and GS Pétroliers returned to win the title for four consecutive seasons, in addition to four consecutive cup wins.[8][9] Due to its winning streak and sponsorship from Sonatrach, GS Pétroliers was the only club not to struggle with financial issues in the early 2010s.[10][11]
Clubs
The following is a list of clubs that participated in the 2023-24 season:
Below is the list of the champions since the first edition in 1962–63.[12]MC Alger and WA Boufarik have historically been rivals due to both teams' high win count.
^Résultat de la final de Championnat d'Algérie de basket-ball 1995-1996, paru dans "El Moudjahid" du jeudi 11 juillet 1996 page 20
^Résultat de la final de Championnat d'Algérie de basket-ball 1996-1997 match aller, paru dans "Le Matin" numero 1643 du lundi 30 juin 1997 page 23
^Résultat de la final de Championnat d'Algérie de basket-ball 1996-1997 match retour, paru dans "Le Matin" numero 1644 du mardi 1er juillet 1997 page 23
^Résultat de la final de Championnat d'Algérie de basket-ball 1996-1997 match d'appui, paru dans "Le Matin" numero 1652 du samedi 12 juillet 1997 page 22
