The confirmation fell this Thursday morning by press release from the French Basketball Federation (FFBB). 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 has engaged, announced the FFBB.
Heurtel, silver medalist at the Euro which ended on Sunday, had signed at the end of July, like all the players selected for the competition, a sworn statement “indicating that he was not engaged and that he was not planning to sign with a Russian or Belarusian club”. The Federation warned in early August that French players engaged in Russian or Belarusian clubs would not be “no longer selectable” until the end of the war in Ukraine.
“If the FFBB 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 being signed with a Russian club”, writes the federation.
If Heurtel “were to play with the Zénith club, this commitment would not be respected, the playmaker would then no longer respect the selection criteria for the next international deadlines, including the 2024 Olympic Games, in accordance with the decision taken by the Federal Bureau, on July 28, ”concludes the FFBB.
