2023-09-24 18:34:54
His position seemed fragile, unstable. Pointed out after the poor performance of the Blues during the last World Cup – with two preliminary defeats and an elimination from the group stage when the objective was at least a podium -, Vincent Collet seemed to be on an ejection seat. Less than a year before the Paris Games, his presence on the bench of the French team seemed very uncertain despite his seven international podiums in 11 years.
Without putting a definitive end to the suspense and the various speculations, Jean-Pierre Siutat, the president of the French Basketball Federation, gave his support to his coach. Guest of the show “Stephen Time”, hosted by former international Stephen Brun on RMC, the boss of the FFBB has clearly renewed his confidence in Collet.
????️???? “Vincent will remain the man for the job for the team in 2024!” Jean-Pierre Siutat, president of the FFBB, confirms Vincent Collet for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. pic.twitter.com/GUSXNs4xNo
— Stephen Time (@StephenTimeRMC) September 23, 2023
“After a failure, we always look for those to blame. The first two culprits are the head coach, Vincent, explained Siutat. We experienced this situation in 2016 and 2017. There was criticism of the Games (France was eliminated in the quarterfinals) and in 2017, in Turkey (elimination in the round of 16 of the Euro). And then the second, through the Federation, it can also be its president. We still see what’s happening… Of course, the players, the staff, everyone is responsible for the failure just as everyone must take ownership of a victory and a medal. Twice, Vincent submitted his resignation to us in 2016 and 2017 and twice I refused it because I believed he had the ability to bounce back and he did so. We’ll see what we all decide together, but very sincerely I think that Vincent will remain the man for the job to lead the team in 2024.”
Changes in the staff?
Having arrived at the head of the Blues in 2009, the 60-year-old coach should therefore go – at least – to the end of his contract, i.e. until the 2024 Games. This decision will not be officially announced until the end of numerous interviews with different stakeholders in the matter. The Federation must communicate at the beginning of October. However, changes cannot be ruled out for the rest of the staff.
Deadline October 10 for Embiid
Furthermore, Jean-Pierre Siutat returned to the situation of Franco-Cameroonian Joel Embiid. While the Federation had helped and supported the naturalization file of the star pivot from Philadelphia – MVP of the last NBA season -, it has still not received assurance from the latter to join the Blues. Embiid has the choice between the French, American and Cameroonian selections. “We are working on it and we have a firm desire to do it,” says Siutat. We had the opportunity to discuss it with him. We are now awaiting a decision. We know that the American team, as you can imagine, would be very interested in having him. And then Cameroon also qualified for the TQO (qualifying tournament for the Games). It may also be a rather delicate situation for him. It will happen very quickly in all cases. Maybe by October 10 we will have an answer, since we set this deadline of the 10th.” The countdown is on.
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