French federation president closes the national team's door on Thomas Heurtel / News - Basketnews.com

Thomas Heurtel will no longer be eligible to participate in any competition with France NT, the federations' president Jean-Pierre Siutat confirmed.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

In a statement he shared withL'Equipe, the president of the French Basketball Federation (FFBB) Jean-Pierre Siutat confirmed that Thomas Heurtel will not return to the squad in the foreseeable future.

Thomas Heurtel

Position:PG, SGAge:33Height:188 cmWeight:91 kgBirth place:FranceProfileNewsStatistics

At the beginning of August, the 33-year-old guard signed a statement by which he undertook not to sign with a Russian or Belarusian club, or else he would no longer be eligible. At the time, Heurtel was in contact with Zenit Saint Petersburg after Real Madrid declined their option to extend his contract.

Signing the agreement allowed Heurtel to play the EuroBasket with France and win a silver medal, his fourth overall. But 72 hours after the final game vs. Spain, Zenit Saint Petersburg announced the signing of the point guard who has appeared in 99 games with Les Bleus.

"We can discuss those already in Russia who had not signed the certificate (Livio Jean-Charles at CSKA Moscow and Louis Labeyrie at UNICS Kazan) but regarding Thomas, to whom we had clearly explained how things work, he did not honor his commitment. For me, as of today, I consider that he will no longer be there with the team). It's over," said Jean-Pierre Siutat.

In an Instagram post on October 10, Heurtel had assured that he " didn't give a damn" about his signing in Russia, a country banned from world basketball since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Heurtel, Labeyrie and Jean-Charles have all been removed from the list of Team France players.

In September, the French federation explained that if the player decides not to activate his optional contract year and leaves Russia by next June, "the committee will decide whether he becomes selectable again for the 2023 World Cup and the Olympics."

But now, Siutat's statement comes to lift all ambiguity.

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