This is information that should reassure or disappoint Blues supporters, it depends.
Unlike the Tokyo Olympics, where
Vincent Collet's men started with a prestigious victory against Team USA, the French team will not face the American ogre in the first round of the Paris Olympics this summer.
However, the two teams will not appear in the same hat during the draw for the Olympic tournament, which will be held this Tuesday, March 19 at FIBA headquarters in Mies, Switzerland (7 p.m.).
Indeed, the catastrophic 2023 World Cup for the Blues, finished in 18th position, pushed them back to 9th place in the world rankings, forcing the France group to enter hat 3 at the Olympics.
For their part, the four-time American title holders will obviously be placed in pot 1. But then, why won't the two Tokyo finalists cross paths in the group stage?
Satisfy the broadcasters of the two countries
In a video intended to explain the drawing procedure published this Friday, March 15, FIBA specifies that in its capacity as reigning champion, Team USA is already guaranteed to join Group C, while the France, as host country, will be placed in one of the other two groups.
However, the origin of this decision remains mainly linked to TV broadcasting issues.
Organized into three groups of four teams, the first round of the Olympic basketball tournament will be played at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille, with four matches per day.
The matches in groups A and B will take place on the same day, those in group C will be paired with pool A of the women's tournament.
Problem: if French and Americans were drawn into the same pool, or into groups that will play on the same day, the 8 p.m. slot, that of prime time, would pose a problem in terms of programming.
Due to the time difference, this schedule, corresponding to 3 p.m. on the East Coast, noon on the West Coast, is very popular with American televisions, who wish to offer the matches of the team led by Gregg Popovich at a decent time for the big audience.
This distribution, already applied in Tokyo for the Japan and United States matches in 2021, therefore allows the IOC and FIBA to satisfy both the broadcasters of the two countries.
Note that this programming will also apply for the women's tournament, which means that Jean-Aimé Toupane's Bleues will not face the Americans in the first round either.