no Marine Johannès, nor Gabby Williams with the Blue

The French team will have to play the euro without two of its main assets. The French Basketball Federation announced on Thursday May 25 the group of 15 players who will begin preparation for the competition which starts on June 15, without Gabby Williams and Marine Johannès. Williams, victim of a concussion during the semi-final first leg of the French championship final with Asvel, must observe several weeks of rest and cannot be returned in time. The more complex case of Marine Johannes has been the subject of much debate in recent weeks, before Thursday’s announcement of her definitive absence for the Euro.

The Johannès dossier splits

The rearguard who plays with Gabby Williams at Asvel also plays during the summer with the New York Liberty franchise, in the WNBA, the North American league. Johannès had expressed the wish to be able to cross the Atlantic for a few days to finalize the signing of his new contract, then to join Les Bleues. “The date of his return to France allows him to take part in the preparation only from June 7, a week before the start of the Eurospecifies the French Federation in a press release. Given this late arrival, inconsistent with the previously mentioned issues [les Françaises ont pour objectif le titre], the staff of the French women’s team decided not to keep Marine Johannes in the group.”

The management of the French team communicates that it has established for several months the organization of this summer, so much so that the preparation had to be reduced to the maximum due to the delays compared to the end of the season in France, Asvel was crowned champion on Tuesday France. Johannès was then unable to hide his emotion in the face of this still uncertain and visibly heavy situation.

“We’ve been talking about this situation for almost a year, spoke of coach Jean-Aimé Toupane Wednesday at BeIN Sports. The framework was defined from the beginning.” “We have had meetings since February and what I have always said is that we have to make choices and assume the choices we make.esteemed for his part Céline Dumerc, former captain of the Azzurri and now general manager of the French national team at BeIN Sports. Whether they are good or bad, we must not judge, no one should judge, no one. Now you have to be honest and say what you want. Doing everything is not possible.“

However, it is not the first time that this interweaving of contractual commitments with training in the United States and summer competitions with France has occurred. This Euro 2023 comes in a pre-Olympic context, as a springboard for the French group around 2024. The Federation has therefore estimated that players who fail the French team in the coming months without justification could be deprived of the Games of Paris. A situation to which Nicolas Batum, one of the pillars of the Blues, also reacted.

“The ultimatum around her head, I find extremely disgusting. She is a little girl who hasn’t lost France once since she was 15 and who only needs a week to deal with a contractual matter.”

French international winger Nicolas Batum

to the specialized media First Team.

“It’s not fair what’s going on around herhad abounded Tony Parker, also president of Asvel where Marine Johannès plays. We guys could go back and forth to sign our contracts. It’s happened loads of times. He wouldn’t lose even an official match…“Johanès had taken part in the last three Eurobasketballs (2017, 2019, 2021), concluded with silver medals.