By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Following the Elective General Assembly held in Paris, Jean-Pierre Hunckler was elected President of the French Basketball Federation (FFBB) for a four-year term.
He becomes the 14th President of the FFBB and succeeds Jean-Pierre Siutat, who had been at the helm of the FFBB since 2010.
“It is an immense honor to become the new President of the FFBB and to begin a four-year term” Hunckler said.
As officially stated by the French Federation, former vice president Jean-Pierre Hunckler was elected by an absolute majority, with 95.41% of the validly cast votes.
French Basketball enters new era as tensions persist between FFBB and LNB
Therefore, French basketball is entering a new era. Siutat will leave the Federation and withdraw from sports governance entirely after his term as first vice-president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee ends in June 2025.
He ran for the presidency of the FIBA European Board, but after his defeat to Jorge Garbajosa, he called for the withdrawal of all French candidates for FIBA Europe commissions, according to Libération.
On the national level, the FFBB has shown little tolerance for dissent in its dealings with clubs and the LNB. Between autumn 2023 and spring 2024, no federal representatives attended the LNB’s executive committee in response to the LNB seeking arbitration from the Ministry of Sports to limit the federation’s financial extractions from the league. According to Libération, these extractions represent over 35% of the LNB’s expenses.
The tension between the FFBB and the LNB peaked in June 2022, when the league decided to reduce the number of teams in the Betclic Elite from 18 to 16. The federation threatened not to renew the delegation contract for the 2023–2026 period. A majority of top-tier clubs have since expressed willingness to revisit the reform, citing a “lack of proper discussion.”
However, the FFBB has stood firm, insisting, “no one is advocating for a return to 18 teams.” Yet, according to Libération, 12 of the 16 elite clubs said otherwise.