AS Monaco Basket, the reigning champions of France, have been formally shut out of both professional divisions of French basketball for the 2026-27 season, ONE reports, after a rescue plan aimed at saving the club collapsed in the final hours before a federation deadline.
The French Basketball Federation's Appeals Chamber confirmed the exclusion after Monaco failed to submit the financial guarantees and documentation it had been given until July 31 to produce, ending a month-long fight to keep Europe's most star-studded club roster intact for another season.
The saga began on July 3, when the DNCCG, French basketball's financial oversight body, refused to admit Monaco into either the Betclic Élite, the country's top flight, or the second-tier Élite 2, citing insufficient guarantees over the club's economic viability and the slow progress of an ownership takeover.
At the heart of the crisis is Alexey Fedorychev, Monaco's majority owner and principal sponsor since 2022, whose assets were frozen amid international legal proceedings, including a reported seizure of roughly 41 million euros in Italy. The fallout left the club unable to pay wages on time and drew repeated financial penalties from the EuroLeague over the past season.
Monaco's obligations were put at around 24 million euros, including some 8 million euros in liabilities recorded at the end of June, on top of 16 million euros the Principality of Monaco had already advanced as guarantor simply to let the club finish last season and its EuroLeague playoff run.
Given a hearing before the Appeals Chamber on July 20, the club won a further ten days to finalize a takeover and hand over a bank guarantee. That lifeline centred on former NBA All-Star Jamal Mashburn, whose investment vehicle, Helen Holdings, was negotiating to take over from Fedorychev and had proposed slashing the budget to somewhere between 10 and 12.5 million euros for next season.
For a moment it looked as though the deal might land: French outlets reported the Appeals Chamber was expected to validate the takeover once a roughly 7 million euro bank guarantee was lodged. It never arrived in time, and the federation confirmed Monaco simply "was not able to produce the requested documents within the allotted timeframe."
The consequence is stark. Monaco, French champions for the third time in four seasons, are barred not only from the Betclic Élite and Élite 2 but also lose their place in next season's EuroLeague as a direct result of the domestic ban.
The club retains a theoretical route to challenge the decision, first before the National Olympic Committee and then, if needed, the Administrative Court, but neither avenue is likely to restore Monaco's place before the new season's rosters and schedules are locked in.
For a club that built one of the EuroLeague's most competitive rosters in recent years around captain Mike James, the ruling effectively dissolves the team as constructed, with players and staff now expected to seek new clubs before the season begins elsewhere.
