AS Monaco Basket players, facing unpaid salaries, have decided not to boycott their league match against Chalon-sur-Saône on Sunday. This comes after financial aid was released by the National Basketball League (LNB). The club, leader of the Betclic Elite, is dealing with severe financial issues tied to its owner.
AS Monaco Basket players, atop the French Betclic Elite standings, considered an unprecedented strike to protest unpaid salaries. This threat arose after their Euroligue loss to Bayern Munich on Thursday (92-81). Meeting Saturday afternoon at the Gaston-Médecin arena, they ultimately chose to play the 19th-round match against Chalon-sur-Saône in Burgundy.
The LNB's intervention proved crucial. In a video conference with the team's French players and the Basketball Players' Union, president Philippe Ausseur and general director Fabrice Jouhaud approved the release of funds to cover some arrears. These amounts will be transferred to the union for distribution to Monaco players.
"The players are the primary victims of the situation, and the LNB has a duty of solidarity toward them while ensuring the best possible equity and continuity of the Championship," the LNB stated to AFP. It added: "In this context, we have indeed proposed a mechanism to address the urgency of certain personal situations. But in any case, out of respect for the public, their sport, and the competition, the players had decided to play".
The ASM, 2025 European vice-champion and French champion in 2023 and 2024, operates on a record 38.7 million euro budget but faces severe financial woes. Russian-Hungarian owner Aleksej Fedoricsev's assets are frozen through his company Fedcom, affected by the war in Ukraine. Coach Vassilis Spanoulis's team is enduring a five-game Euroligue losing streak, the worst in its history. Monaco authorities are working on a swift club takeover.
