SBBF: There are no conditions for Jonas Jerebko to represent Swedish NT

The Swedish Basketball Federation (SBBF) learned yesterday that Jonas Jerebko, who last represented Sweden in the World Cup qualifiers against Croatia, has signed a contract with the Russian club CSKA Moscow.

The club is currently banned from all international play and only participates in the Russian league as part of the sanctions against Russia. The SBBF shares the government’s and the National Sports Federation’s condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is also widely supported throughout the basketball movement.

At the home game in Croatia, we and the players jointly demonstrated for peace,  a fundraiser has been started in favour of the victims of the war and many Swedish basketball clubs have shown their solidarity in a variety of ways over the past month. Furthermore, the SBBF has openly supported the decision of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to exclude Russia from all tournaments and games.

As a player in the national team, you are a representative of Swedish Basketball, and of course also a person to whom we as an organisation have a human relationship. For this reason, it has been crucial for us to have a direct dialogue with Jonas Jerebko before we announce our position. Fredrik Joulamo, Secretary General of the Swedish Basketball Federation, has spoken to Jonas Jerebko on Wednesday about his choice to play in Russia and pointed out how it directly contradicts the values of Svensk Basket and our clear position on the issue of Russia.

After this dialogue, we have unfortunately had to conclude that there are no conditions for Jonas Jerebko to represent a Swedish national basketball team.