The star wing of the French female basketball team, Gabby Williamsannounced on Sunday that it would not “participate” in the Euro-2015 of basketball (June 18-29) that the Bleues will play in Greece.
“It is a personal choice that I did not take lightly, and I will remain the first supporter of the French team,” wrote in a story published on Instagram the 28-year-old player, without specifying if her decision was related to her contract in WNBA, the North American basketball league.
Earlier in the day, the sports daily L’Equipe had already indicated that the player, under contract with the Seattle Stormcould give up his participation in the Eurobasket because of his career in the United States and the difficulties posed by the will to combine WNBA and selection.
One of the rules of the collective agreement of the North American championship-the regular season of which takes place from mid-May to mid-September-specifies for example that the players cannot leave their franchise to take part in an international competition only two weeks before the start of the latter.
The Blue will start their preparation on May 18, a month before the start of the Eurobasket.
In April, the Bleues wing, Olympic vice-championes last summer in Paris, had already told AFP not to know when she was released by Seattle for the preparation for the Euro, which the French have not won since 2009.
” Love (Jean-Aimé Toupane, coach of the French team, editor’s note) said he was going to respect (The constraints of the players) And he understands that each is in a different situation, depending on her contract and his frankness, “she explained on the sidelines of the Euroligue semi-finals that she was playing with her other club, Fenerbahçe (Turkey).
But, she added then, “it must really be complicated for him, I am not envious of his situation (…) It’s hard for him and for us. We have contracts to respect and at the same time we really want to win this year. »»
