LNB releases emergency financial aid for Monaco players, Prince Albert II speaks for the first time
Betclic ELITE — With AS Monaco players weighing a strike over unpaid salaries, the National Basketball League stepped in with emergency financial support, averting a boycott in Chalon but raising broader questions in the process.
Photo Credit : Pauline Ledez
The threat was serious. After several weeks of unpaid salaries, AS Monaco players had considered not traveling to Chalon-sur-Saône for the 19th round of Betclic ELITE. Finally, and as announced this Saturday afternoon, the Roca Team will be present this Sunday. The reason: direct financial intervention from the LNB.
According to AFP, Monaco players gave up their strike action even before receiving a financial « boost » from the League, intended to cover part of the salary arrears.
Aid released after discussions with players
After meeting Saturday afternoon following practice at Gaston-Médecin, the players ultimately agreed to take the floor. That decision came before a videoconference involving the LNB, Monaco’s French players and the players’ union, the Basketball Players’ Union.
In the wake of those talks, LNB president Philippe Ausseur and league general director Fabrice Jouhaud validated the release of an emergency financial package.
The funds will not pass through the club directly. Instead, they will be transferred to the players’ union, which will then redistribute the money among the Monaco roster.
« A duty of solidarity » for the League
In a statement sent to AFP, the LNB justifies this decision by the exceptional context.
« The players are the first victims of the situation and the LNB has a duty of solidarity towards them while it must ensure as best as possible the fairness and continuity of the Championship », indicates the League.
It also specifies that this mechanism aims to respond to « the urgency of certain personal situations », while emphasizing that the players had, according to it, already decided to play « out of respect for the public, for their sport and for the competition ».
An unprecedented gesture that raises questions about fairness
This direct financial intervention by the League, even indirect, will undoubtedly raise questions. Never before has the LNB been required to financially support the players of a club in difficulty to avoid a strike.
While the stated objective is to preserve the continuity of the championship, the question of sporting and economic fairness will be raised by many league stakeholders.
A professional sports league that pays 500k euros to a club so it doesn’t strike!!!
Surprising.
🏀— Stephen Brun (@StephBrun41) February 7, 2026
A crisis still far from resolved
This one-time aid only temporarily solves part of AS Monaco’s structural problems. The club, which displays this season the largest budget in French basketball history (38.7 million euros), remains confronted with depleted cash flow, a consequence notably of the freezing of its owner Aleksej Fedorycsev’s assets in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
Present at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics this weekend, Prince Albert II of Monaco acknowledged the severity of the situation speaking to RMC.
« It’s difficult. Discussions are still ongoing. We will do everything to try at least to save the club’s season », he said.
In the short term, the strike has been avoided. But the LNB’s gesture, unprecedented in its scope, has not finished being talked about.
Gabriel Pantel-Jouve is the founder and editor-in-chief of BeBasket, which he has been running since 2010 (formerly known as Catch & Shoot). Having studied at the École Publique de Journalisme de Tours and two universities in North America, he has developed his expertise in French basketball, from the National League to amateur divisions, over the past 20 years. Alongside this, he is also involved in the development of clubs in the Montpellier area.
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