Now naturalized French with a view to the 2024 Olympics, Cameroonian star Joel Embiid, 28, can play for the France team. But it won’t be for the end of the summer. The general manager of the Blues, Boris Diaw, has indeed confirmed to the Team that the pivot of the Philadelphia Sixers will not join the France group which is preparing for the Euro (September 1 to 18) and the start of the second qualifying phase. at the 2023 World Cup.
“We know that he is still waiting for a French passport. When he has obtained it, he can start the process and apply for a FIBA license for the national team. He would have liked to play this summer if he had not been injured. But he underwent a hand operation and did not resume basketball, justifies the former tricolor international. It would be too fair (for Euro). »
After passing through Insep, the France team will be hard at work in Nanterre to prepare for the six matches (four friendlies and two qualifying for the 2023 World Cup) that it must play in August.
Barely a few months after taking the first steps, Embiid has been officially French since a decree of July 4, published in the Official Journal on July 5.
The massive NBA pivot (2.13 m, 127 kg) will apply to compete in the World Championship in 2023 but especially the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Last year, at the Tokyo Games, France came up against the American obstacle in the final.