The Syrian Basketball League () is the top-tier professional men's basketball league in Syria. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Syrian Basketball Federation. Both Aleppo teams, Al-Shabibeh and Al-Ittihad SC, dominated the league until 1993.

History

Al-Shabibeh dominated the league from 1956 until 1978. Then another team from Aleppo, Al-Ittihad SC, took all the titles until 1993. Later on, Damascus clubs Al Wahda and Al-Jaish SC won some titles sporadically. In 2021, for the first time in SBL history, the league was won by a club from the city of Homs, Al-Karamah.

Sponsorship As of 2022, the league's main partners are Sinalco,Sinalco Syria Syriatel, Cham Wings Airlines, Sama TV and Syria TV.

Competition format

The SBL is played by the international FIBA rules. Since 2020–21 the SBL season has a new format. In the regular season, all teams play each other first home and away.

Based on the order in the first round, the top four teams play the playoff system. The semi-final consists of a series played in the twice-to-beat format of the best team with the worst and the second with the third of four.

The final is played in the format of two advancing semi-finalists in a series of three winning matches in the best of five format.

Promotion and relegation The two worst teams relegate at the end of the season and the two best teams in Division 2 advance to the league.

Current clubs As of 2024, there are the basketball clubs currently in the Syrian Basketball League:

Team City VenueAl-ShabibehAleppoAl-Assad Sports Arena Al-Ittihad SCAleppoAl-Hamadaniah Sports Arena Al-Hurriya SCAleppoAl-Assad Sports Arena Al-Jaish SCDamascusAl-Fayhaa Arena Al Wahda SCDamascusAl-Fayhaa Arena Al-Karamah SCHomsGhazwan Abu Zaid ArenaHoms Al FidaaHomsGhazwan Abu Zaid Arena Al-Nawair SCHamaNaseh al-Wani Arena

Title holders SeasonChampion1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79 Al-Shabibeh1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93Al-Ittihad SC1993–94 Al Wahda1994–95 Al-Ittihad SC1995–96 Al-Ittihad SC1996–97 Al Wahda1997–98 Al Wahda1998–99Al Wahda1999–00 Al-Ittihad SC2000–01 Al Wahda2001–02 Al Wahda2002–03 Al Wahda2003–04 Al-Jaish SC2004–05 Al-Jaish SC2005–06 Al-Ittihad SC2006–07 Al-Shabibeh2007–08 Al-Shabibeh2008–09 Al-Shabibeh2009–10 Al-Jaish SC2010–11 Al-Shabibeh2011–12 Al-ShabibehNo Championship2013–14Al Wahda2014–15Al Wahda2015–16 Al-Jaish SC2016–17 Al-Jaish SC2017–18 Al-Jaish SC2018–19 Al-Jaish SCSeason was suspended at the semi-finals due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Syria2020–21 Al-Karamah SC2021–22 Al-Ittihad SC2022–23 Al Wahda2023–24 Al Wahda2024–25 Al Wahda2025–26 Al Wahda

Performances Finals Season Champions Score Runners-up 2003–04 Al-JaishNo play-offs Al-Shabibeh 2004–05 Al-Jaish No play-offs Al-Shabibeh 2005–06 Al-Ittihad No play-offs Al-Shabibeh 2006–07 Al-Shabibeh 2–0 Al-Ittihad 2007–08 Al-Shabibeh No play-offs Al-Jaish 2008–09 Al-Shabibeh 3–0 Al-Jaish 2009–10 Al-Jaish 2–1 Al-Shabibeh 2010–11 Al-Shabibeh 3–0 Al-Jaish 2011–12 Al-Shabibeh 2–0Al-Ittihad 2012–13No championship 2013–14 Al-Wahda 1–0 Al-Ittihad 2014–15 Al-Wahda 2–1 Al-Ittihad 2015–16 Al-Jaish 3–0 Al-Karamah 2016–17 Al-Jaish No play-offs 2017–18 Al-Jaish No play-offs 2018–19 Al-Jaish 3–1 Al-Shabibeh 2019–20No championship 2020–21 Al-Karamah 2–1 Al-Wahda2021–22 Al-Ittihad 3–0 Al-Karamah 2022–23 Al-Wahda 3–0 Al-Ittihad 2023–24 Al-Wahda 4–0 Al-Karamah 2024–25 Al-Wahda 3–1 Al-Ittihad 2025–26 Al-Wahda 3–1 Al-Ittihad

Performance by club Club Winners Winning yearsAl-Shabibeh28 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012Al-Ittihad SC19 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2006, 2022Al Wahda13 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2014, 2015, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026Al-Jaish SC7 2004, 2005, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019Al-Karamah SC1 2021

Performance by city City Winners Club(s)Aleppo47Al-Shabibeh, Al-Ittihad SCDamascus20Al Wahda, Al-Jaish SCHoms1Al-Karamah SC

Women's league These are the current teams in the women's league as of 2022:

Team City VenueAl-ShabibehAleppoAl-Jalaa ArenaAl-Ittihad SCAleppoAl-Shaba Sports ArenaOuroube SCAleppoAl-Yarmouk Arena Al-Thawra SCDamascusAl-Fayhaa Arena Al-Wahda SCDamascusAl-Fayhaa Arena Barada SCDamascusAl-Fayhaa Arena Qasioun SCDamascusAl-Fayhaa Arena Tishreen SCLatakiaLatakia Sports ArenaMuhardeh SCMuhardehMuhardeh ArenaAl-Sahel SCTartousBasel al-Assad Arena

References

External links Syrian Basketball Federation website