The big interview with Alain Contensoux, CEO and Technical Director of the FFBB: « We know how to do things very well, but we don’t know how to sell them »

One year after the triumph of the Paris Olympics, where French basketball won three silver medals and its youth teams captured four European titles, summer 2025 marked a brutal return to reality. No titles for youth categories, a historic fourth place for the women’s national team, and an early elimination of Les Bleus against Georgia in the EuroBasket Round of 16.

Critics were harsh. However, Alain Contensoux refuses to panic. Having joined the Federation in 2010 after notable stints at the Ministry of Sports and French Tennis Federation alongside Patrice Dominguez, he has experienced many cycles. « It’s always more complicated to stay at the very top, regardless of the sport, » he states from the outset, recalling a truth sometimes forgotten in the demand for immediate results.

The reality of a European competition in full transformation

The executive hides nothing: « Today in European basketball, Italy has made very strong progress with youth teams. Germany has implemented criteria in their training centers for over a decade now to truly have high-quality coaching. » Spain launched its U22 league last weekend to counter NCAA influence and retain its best talents. France is no longer alone at the top, and the European average level keeps rising inexorably.

But beyond the competition, Contensoux points to an unprecedented « combination of circumstances » this summer: « I have never experienced a summer where no youth team was made up of the players we had planned for during the year. » Between three and four absences per selection, due to injuries or other reasons, the mix proved harmful. For the women’s senior team, Marine Fauthoux’s injury during preparation, combined with WNBA-related absences, weakened an already depleted squad.

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