Trouble continues to pile up for the Mets Boulogne-Billancourt basketball club. Dunces of Betclic Elite and almost condemned to a descent to Pro B in a few weeks (they are 6 victories behind the first non-relegation 9 days from the verdicts), the Metropolitans have another match to play, this time in front of the council industrial tribunal.
According to our information, Laurent Foirest, who was dismissed from his coaching duties last November, decided to take legal action to obtain compensation for the damage suffered. And cleanse his honor. In the spring of 2023, he parted amicably with his former club Quimper. This time the situation is different.
Beyond the disappointing sporting results (11 losses in 12 days), the managers of the Mets would accuse him of serious faults and blame him for a poor relationship with the players to justify the dismissal. This is therefore contested by the person concerned, who had one and a half years of contract remaining. When contacted, the various parties did not wish to comment.
Arriving on the Mets bench last summer on the advice of Vincent Collet, the former French international – silver medalist at the Sydney Games in 2000 – discovered the Betclic Elite championship at the age of 50. He had to build a squad urgently. The town hall of Boulogne, which directs the destiny of the club via the SCIC (cooperative society of collective interest) Boulogne-Billancourt Sport Développement, had in fact left the threat of a sudden disappearance of the former club of Victor Wembanyama and Bilal Coulibaly until mid-July. A late green light which immediately ruined the Mets’ season.
The club has not been spared from the blows of fate with the numerous injuries to its players or their sudden departures. Since the start of the season, he has seen Dee Bost (October 29), Grant Sherfield (November 1), Josh Carlton (December 19), Amar Gegic (in December), Jordan Theodore (who announced his departure during training at the end of January) or even Alen Omic leaving this ship in full drift. Nebojsa Bogavac, Foirest’s assistant, preferred to resign in December to join the Alliance Sport Alsace in Pro B.
The transfer of Matthieu Gauzin to Nancy was rejected by the Basketball League in February for “non-compliance with the provisions of article 79 of the LNB regulations”. The club was also fined 10,400 euros by the League’s Legal, Disciplinary and Regulations Commission for authorizing amendments “contrary to the collective agreement” in its players’ contracts.
Furthermore, the town hall of Boulogne, which is seeking to disengage from the Mets project, is said to be in discussions with French and foreign buyers. The club was also summoned by the DNCCG, the financial policeman of the Basketball League, on April 2.
