Dimitri Vernet and AFP
modified to
8:59 a.m., September 22, 2022
The leader Thomas Heurtel will be excluded from the French basketball team “for the next international deadlines, including the 2024 Olympic Games” if he is “brought to play” with the Zénith Saint-Petersburg, with whom he is committed , the French Federation announced on Thursday.
A drastic decision. In a press release posted on social networks, the French Basketball Federation announces that playmaker Thomas Heurtel will be excluded from the French team, including for the 2024 Olympic Games, if he plays with Zénith Saint-Petersburg. , Russian club he joined on Monday.
The FFBB reacts to the situation of Thomas Heurtel. more info by clicking on this link: https://t.co/j9OCQtMJ4Zpic.twitter.com/06Ao1wvMTB
— FFBB (@ffbasketball) September 22, 2022
The player had however signed a sworn statement indicating that he would not play in Russia
Less than 24 hours after the Russian club announced the signing, for one season plus an optional one, of the playmaker silver medalist Sunday at the Euro (defeat in the final against Spain). The federal office of the FFBB indeed decided “on July 28” that French players engaged in Russian or Belarusian clubs would not be “no longer selectable” until the end of the war in Ukraine.
And Thomas Heurtel, like all the players selected for the Euro, signed a sworn statement “indicating that he was not engaged and that he was not considering signing with a Russian or Belarusian club”, explained the federation in its press release published on Thursday. If ever Heurtel (99 selections) does not lift the optional year provided for in his contract with Zenith Saint Petersburg, the federal office will decide whether or not he becomes selectable again for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the Federation said. the AFP.
The FFB clears itself of this case
The Federation also indicated in its press release that although it “was informed that Thomas Heurtel had contacts with foreign clubs, including Russian ones, at no time was it informed that a contract had been signed or was in progress. signing course with a Russian club”.
The question of the selection in the France team of players playing with Russian or Belarusian clubs had emerged this summer after the signing of French internationals Livio Jean-Charles (four selections) at CSKA Moscow and Louis Labeyrie (33 caps) in Kazan.