By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
France star Evan Fournier said that he disagrees with the Federation’s decision to ban all players and coaches who work at Russian and Belarusian clubs amid the war in Ukraine but decided to sign the related document for the benefit of the squad and to “not create any problems.”
“I’m not a fan of this type of thing, to be honest. I signed it for the good of the team,” Fournier said per BeBasket. “There are a lot of conflicts around the world and if we had to apply this to every conflict, we wouldn’t be playing anywhere.”
On Monday (1/8), the French Basketball Federation announced that any player or coach who signs with a Russian and Belarusian organization while the war in Ukraine is ongoing will not be eligible to be selected for the national teams. This automatically ruled out such players as big men Livio Jean-Charles and Louis Labeyrie who recently joined CSKA Moscow and Unics Kazan respectively.
Veteran guard Thomas Heurtel’s participation in the upcoming EuroBasket and 2023 World Cup Qualifiers had also become a matter of debate since the player was rumored to be in talks with Zenit St. Petersburg.
“Yes I signed the document,” Heurtel said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.” The former Barcelona and Real Madrid player admitted that Russian clubs have shown an interest in him.
“My agents are in contact with clubs, Russian clubs in particular if you want to know,” Heurtel mentioned. “But also others who play in the EuroLeague and also Spain. We’ll see what happens in the future.”