By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
French guard Thomas Heurtel has been a member of Zenit St. Petersburg since 2022 and remains out of the French national team, as a result.
The player is banned after signing with a Russian club, a decision made by the French Basketball Federation.
During the summer of 2022 the Federation asked their national team players to sign a letter in which they confirmed that they have no relationship with Russia and they agreed to be banned if they signed with a Russian club.
However, Heurtel stated on the “Tony Parker Show” that the French Basketball Federation knew all along since the start of the summer of 2022 that he had a deal with Zenit and despite that, they let him play in the FIBA Eurobasket 2022 because they needed him on the point guard position.
“Of course, they knew. Of course, the letter was bogus. That’s why we have to tear it up, everyone knew about it,” he said.
The French federation reacted with the following press release:
“The Federation has taken note of recent statements from Thomas Heurtel regarding EuroBasket 2022 and would like to clarify certain points.
– In the interest of ethics, the Federal Office made the decision, on July 28, 2022, before the gathering of the French Team in preparation for EuroBasket, that “players and staff who sign a contract with a Russian or Belarusian club can no longer be selected for the French team as long as the exclusion measures from all international competitions are in force”, Those measures are still in effect.
– The Federal Office of the FFBB and its President, Jean-Pierre Siutat, were not aware of the existence of a contract between Thomas Heurtel and a Russian or Belarusian club.
– It was clearly the player’s choice, after EuroBasket, to sign and play for a Russian club with full knowledge of the facts and in non-compliance with the sworn certificate he had signed. “
Without Heurtel on the roster, the French national team couldn’t get past the first phase in the FIBA World Cup with team captain Nicolas Batum referring to the issue.