Jerebko was released from Sweden’s NT service after his move to CSKA
By Johnny Askounis / [email protected]
After the first reaction from the Swedish Basketball Association’s general secretary Fredrik Joulamo, SBBF shut down Jonas Jerebko from the Swedish national team, which was announced on Wednesday morning.
One of his main sponsors quickly ended the relationship when Yerebko joined CSKA Moscow during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Eastern Europe. His decision was met with extensive criticism in Sweden. The union, for its part, contacted Jerebko, previously noted by Joulamo. “Unfortunately, we have to state that there are no conditions for Jonas Jerebko to play for the Swedish national basketball team.” concludes the press release.
The national team’s schedule includes a couple of matches for the FIBA World Cup European Group C qualifiers in the summer of 2023. Sweden will take on Finland and Slovenia.
The Swedish Basketball Association once again condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and also explained that all players, including Jerebko, shared messages of peace in the latest home game against Croatia. In addition, the SBBF conducted a fundraiser to help the victims of the war and supports FIBA’s decision to eliminate Russia from all tournaments.
After Euroleague Basketball decided to remove all four Russian teams from the 2021-2022 editions of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup, CSKA has only played in the VTB United League. Jerebko’s contract extends for the rest of the season.
The Swedish power forward returned to Europe after a long NBA race. He played 683 games between the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors before moving to the Khimki Moscow region. He left the Russian team halfway through the 2020-21 season and then remained inactive at club level.
Photo credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL