Image courtesy BAL
Qatar Foundation (QF) has delivered the first of six community basketball courts it is funding under its multi-year partnership with the Basketball Africa League (BAL), opening a refurbished facility in Guédiawaye, Senegal. The site is the first in Africa under BAL4HER, the league’s women’s and girls’ platform.
The court was inaugurated in late October by Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Olympic Council of Asia. Financial terms of the partnership, announced in May 2026 and facilitated by Qatar Sports Investments, have not been disclosed. The partnership made QF the BAL’s first Official Community Partner, with its Sidra logo on team uniforms and presenting rights to the league’s Ubuntu Trophy.
The indoor facility will host basketball, volleyball and handball, along with education and leadership programmes. Two-thirds of its current users are female.
Amadou Gallo Fall, BAL President, said: “Basketball has the power to open doors, build confidence and inspire young people to dream bigger. With the first BAL4HER community court in Africa, we want girls and young women in Guédiawaye to have a place where they can play, learn, connect and imagine what is possible. We are grateful to Qatar Foundation for sharing our commitment to expanding opportunities through the game.”
The court counts towards NBA Africa’s commitment to build or renovate 1,000 courts across the continent over the next decade. A second BAL4HER court is scheduled for Owerri, Nigeria, in December.
Guédiawaye is one of six courts the league is opening this season across Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Senegal, each tied to a named backer, Senegal’s state oil company PETROSEN, the City of Dakar, fintech Wave and Woodside Energy, alongside QF. For partners, a court offers year-round local presence that a league season of a few months across a handful of host cities cannot.
QF’s position
Commercial sponsors compete for the same uniform and broadcast space, while QF has attached its money to the women’s game and to physical assets. It also extends Qatar’s sports footprint in Africa through a philanthropic channel rather than a commercial one, with Qatar Sports Investments, the owner of Paris Saint-Germain, brokering the arrangement.
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