France’s basketball federation has announced that any players or coaches who are have ties to clubs in Russia or Belarus will not be considered for participation for upcoming international competitions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This mandate will also extend to the next summer Olympics, which are set to take place in Paris.
This decision has impacted the selections to the EuroBasket team, a Livio Jean-Charles and Louis Labeyerie, who recently signed to CSKA and UNICS respectively, were not called up to the senior national team.
Players currently on the French national team must commit not to sign with a team in Russia or Belarus. This will most directly affect team member, Thomas Huertel, who is a a free agent. Huertel has been reportedly connected to Russian club Zenit, however the rule from the national team strikes that down as an option.
The Fédération Française de BasketBall (FFBB) in a recent press release, stated it support of sanctions and measures against and that was what spurred their decision.
