The French basketball federation did not want to clearly decide, Wednesday in Jakarta, on the future of the coach of the Blues Vincent Collet after the debacle of the World Cup, one year before the Paris Olympics in view of which the cases of Thomas Heurtel and Joel Embiid also remain outstanding. “The debate arises today” about a possible recall of the playmaker, not selectable for the France team since he joined Zenit Saint Petersburg, said Boris Diaw. In the company of the president of the federation Jean-Pierre Siutat during a press briefing the day after the last group match, won with difficulty and for honor against Lebanon (85-79), the general manager of the Blues also mentioned the Embiid file, to be “quickly settled”.
Under contract until the end of the 2024 Olympics, could Vincent Collet prematurely leave his post, which he has held since 2009, after the Indonesian fiasco? Siutat and Diaw left that question open: “As of now, there is no decision being made on anyone, including Vincent Collet,” Diaw said. Relaunched, he replied: “We are all questioned, we can all be questioned, any staff person, every year, we have always operated like this. But, at present, this is not the case.” “This is part of the file to be opened and closed on October 10. We will watch everything,” said Siutat, for his part. The federation met on October 10 to draw conclusions from the summer results of the French teams – the Blue finished third in the Euro in June when they were also clearly aiming for the title. “We will not put dust under the carpet” assured the president.
By October 10, he “will certainly discuss with the government” the case of Heurtel, who joined Russia in the fall of 2022, against the rules laid down by the federation and a charter he had. -even signed. A possible recall of the leader, again desired by captain Nicolas Batum on Sunday after the elimination, is thus put on the table while the Blues displayed during the competition deficiencies in this essential position. “It is a debate which arises today and which has not necessarily arisen before”, underlined Diaw, considering that this question was the consequence “of the results which we made (and) of the fact that at the playmaker position, Frank (Ntilikina) was injured during preparation.
Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said Tuesday on RTL that there was “no question” of calling into question the rules concerning players playing in Russia. They are “dictated by the desire that we have, at the level of the ministry, but also at the level of the Quai d’Orsay, at the level of the federation, to protect the safety of athletes, to have a form of ethics and consistency,” she added. “Nothing was imposed on us,” said Jean-Pierre Siutat, when asked about possible directives coming from the Ministry of Sports. If the hockey player Stéphane Da Costa is deprived of the French team because he plays in Russia, at the Automobilist Yekaterinburg, the volleyball player Jenia Grebennikov is preparing to compete in the Euro on Wednesday while he plays in Saint Petersburg.
Also read Basketball World Cup: the expulsion of De Colo, the turning point which precipitated the fall of the Blues (video)
Diaw and Siutat have also indicated that they wanted to “settle quickly” the Joel Embiid case, a sea serpent for two years. The Cameroonian pivot from Philadelphia, the best player of the past NBA season, has still not indicated whether he wanted to wear the jersey of France, whose nationality he recently acquired. He also got a US passport. “It is clear that by the end of the summer, we will have to be able to position ourselves (…) we will not wait for June” 2024, said Diaw, thinking that Embiid “still hasn’t” decided if he was going to play for a national team (France, United States or even Cameroon).
