The French women's basketball team faces Israel in Caen, Thursday November 7 (9 p.m.), as part of the Euro 2025 qualifiers. A match which takes place with reinforced security.
Return to competition under close surveillance. Three months after its epic defeat in the final of the Olympic Games, the French women's basketball team is at the Palais des Sports in Caen to face Israel in the Euro 2025 qualifiers, Thursday November 7 (9:00 p.m.). The players of coach Jean-Aimé Toupane should have no difficulty in signing a third victory in this competition which, if confirmed on Sunday in Latvia, would qualify unless there is an improbable combination of circumstances.
Restrictions de circulation
But in terms of the opponent, this match is classified as high risk by the authorities. Given the context of war in the Middle East, the Calvados prefecture has announced reinforced security measures. There is particular question of traffic restrictions around the 4,200-seat enclosure, which must be visited by a team of deminers before the entry of spectators, according to Ouest-France.
On November 4, around forty pro-Palestinian activists broke into the premises of the French Football Federation in Paris to protest against the organization of the Blues match against Israel on November 14 at the Stade de France.
Before the kick-off of PSG-Atlético in the Champions League at the Parc des Princes, Wednesday November 6, a large tifo “Free Palestine” and for “world peace” was deployed in the stand of the Parisian supporters of the Collective Ultras Paris. An initiative deemed “unacceptable” by Bruno Retailleau, Minister of the Interior.
Sporting continuity for the Blues
On a purely sporting level, the Blues are in continuity with the Olympics with Toupane, extended until the 2028 Olympics. They have also retained their backbone, only stripped of Alexia Chéry, who put her career on hold, and the captain Sarah Michel Boury, retired.
To succeed him, Valériane Ayayi (30 years old, 151 selections) was chosen. She intends to continue to be “a bit of this big sister who integrates young people, capable of providing them with answers so that they feel serene”. Also missing during this international window are three Olympic medalists, the injured Marine Johannès and Iliana Rupert as well as Marine Fauthoux, excused for “compelling personal reasons”.
