By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Following the French Federation of Basketball’s refusal to let AS Monaco join the third-tier NM1 division, the club has filed an emergency appeal with the French National Olympic and Sports Committee to avoid a total operational shutdown.
According to a Sunday report by Nice-Matin, this urgent legal intervention represents the reigning Betclic Elite champions’ absolute last hope of salvaging their professional status for the 2026–27 season. Without it, administrative sanctions will keep the club down to the fifth-tier amateur ranks.
The FFBB’s severe ruling was passed down despite a massive €10 million seasonal commitment from Swiss businessman Thomas Kurk. His rescue package promised a robust €7.5 million working budget designed to fully cover current salaries and absorb the club’s remaining EuroLeague debts. However, the press release on Saturday cited past financial irregularities and openly questioned the viability of the new project, stating it lacked proper documentation to prove structural reliability.
La Roca Team’s legal counsel, Xavier Le Cerf-Galle, fiercely criticized the federation for ignoring the livelihoods of dozens of club employees who now face immediate job losses.
“A brand-new investor puts €10 million on the table and is met with a resounding rejection from the Federal Bureau because he is being made to pay for past administrative failings,” he mentioned. “That forces us back before the CNOSF, even though the club has been restructured, the accounts are now in excellent shape, everything is in place to protect jobs, and we had built a strong team that would have drawn crowds at N1 venues every weekend.”
Armed with freshly stamped financial accounts, the Monegasque institution is pushing forward with its CNOSF appeal. Meanwhile, the NM1 league schedule is locked in to tip off next weekend without them.
This crisis marks the lowest point of a rapid downfall for Monaco. After severe regulatory and financial failures left the club blocked from registering for France’s top professional divisions, they were demoted from the EuroLeague to the BKT EuroCup, and subsequently barred from the second-tier Euroleague Basketball competitions as well.
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