This is a statement that should make noise around the French basketball team. Skweek broadcast this Thursday afternoon a teaser of its show Skweek Show by Tony Parker, which it will broadcast on Friday February 2 at 6 p.m. (also accessible on YouTube).
The guest is Thomas Heurtel, the leader of Saint Petersburg, 99 caps with the Blues but deprived of the French team since Euro 2022 due to his choice to sign in Russia. In support of the Ukrainian people, a Federation charter has prohibited since July 2022, players who play in Russia from wearing the tricolor jersey.
Questioned by Stephen Brun and Tony Parker, Thomas Heurtel returned to this charter with very strong words. “Of course they know (president Jean-Pierre Siutat, manager Boris Diaw and coach Vincent Collet). Of course the charter was something bogus, that’s why it must be torn up. Everyone knew (that I was going to sign for Zénith). »
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????????” ???? ???????? ????????́????????????????????????, ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ????́???????????????? ???? ???? ???????????????????????????? (which I was going to sign at Zenith)” ????
???? Thomas Heurtel gives himself up exclusively and without taboo… pic.twitter.com/2WuUeUHtfZ
— SKWEEK (@skweektv) February 1, 2024
“They made a guy sign a charter, they took him to the Euro knowing that he was going to sign in Russia, it’s not serious,” replied Stephen Brun, taken aback. “I gave you a scoop, there…” says Thomas Heurtel, visibly delighted to have reestablished his truth.
At the end of the afternoon, the French Basketball Federation reacted to Thomas Heurtel’s statements in a press release. The FFBB specifies that “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 “the players and staff who sign a contract with a Russian or Belarusian club will no longer be able to be selected for the French team as long as the exclusion measures from all international competitions are in force. » Measures still in progress. »
The Federation also recalls that “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.
The worst part is that Vincent Collet was seriously considering selecting Heurtel for the Olympics in the event of a green light from the institutions (IOC, CNOSF, etc.). But this resounding exit could well permanently exclude the playmaker from the France team…
