French basketball players already engaged or who will engage in the future with a Russian or Belarusian club will no longer be selectable for the France team until the end of the war in Ukraine, the French Federation announced on Monday.
French basketball players already engaged or who will engage in the future with a Russian or Belarusian club will no longer be selectable for the France team until the end of the war in Ukraine, the French Federation announced on Monday. “The players and staff of the French teams will no longer be selectable if they sign a contract with a Russian or Belarusian club, as long as the conflict is ongoing,” explained the FFBB in a press release.
The decision also applies to staff members
The decision was taken on July 28 during a federal office and “also applies to players, players, staff members who have already signed with a Russian or Belarusian club”.
The question surfaced a few days ago, with the signing of French internationals Livio Jean-Charles (4 caps) at CSKA Moscow and Louis Labeyrie (33 caps) at Kazan.
Following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army on February 24, the International Basketball Federation has decided until further notice to exclude Russia and Belarus from all its competitions, selections or clubs. The same goes for the Euroleague Basketball, an entity that manages the two main men’s club competitions, the Euroleague (C1) and the Eurocoupe (C2).