FC Barcelona denied on Wednesday having “neglected” its French international point guard Thomas Heurtel, who was prevented from returning with the club from Istanbul after the defeat against Anadolu Efes (86-79) in a Euroleague match on Tuesday.
The Spanish club published a statement reacting to an article in the Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo, according to which Heurtel (31 years old), at Barça since 2017, was prevented from riding the plane back to Barcelona on Tuesday night, because the Barça team accuse him of secretly negotiating his departure to Real Madrid, Barça’s eternal rival.
According to the press, Heurtel was initially going the opposite way of his compatriot Leo Westermann, who would leave Turkish Fenerbahce for the Catalan team in the coming days, but he also negotiated with Real Madrid, which is looking for a replacement for his Argentine point guard Facundo Campazzo, who left for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets.
“On Monday, the club allows the player, who was not called up for the game against Anadolu Efes, to travel with the team to Istanbul to solve his professional future, as he and his representative requested,” Barça said in this statement , specifying that this situation occurs within the framework of an “imminent mutual contract termination” but that at the moment Heurtel “is still part of the staff.”
“On Tuesday at noon, the club and the player’s agent break up the negotiations,” add the Blaugrana. “Given the situation generated by this breakdown in negotiations, and not being under the team’s discipline in this match, it is decided that the player will not return to the group.”
– “Handful of fans” –
“The player was not unattended in any case and he was given all the facilities – a hotel night, regular flight ticket and all the relevant documentation – to be able to travel and return to Barcelona the next day,” defended Barça.
The event caused many reactions on Twitter. Evan Fournier, the Orlando Magic’s French guard, called Barça a “rotten organization” and Mike James, the American point guard for CSKA Moscow, said that “if this is what it looks / sounds like, it’s a real shame.”
“Change the way you see them … I’m not surprised,” replied Frenchman Kévin Séraphin, a former French international and former Barça player, who described the Catalan club’s management as “a handful of fans.”
“Unjustifiable and unworthy act,” Alfonso Reyes, president of the Spanish basketball union ABP (Professional Basketball Association), said on Twitter Tuesday night.
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