Asked by Europe 1, the director general of the National Basketball League (LNB) Michel Mimran impatiently awaits the announcements of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron.

Because in the event of a curfew, this could have significant consequences for professional basketball.

"We are worried, we are worried, our job and that of club managers is to find solutions," he says.

INTERVIEW

Jeep Elite matches in the middle of the day: the idea is gaining ground in the National Basketball League.

General manager Michel Mimran, who must also manage match postponements due to Covid-19 cases, will follow the presidential announcements this Wednesday evening, with a touch of feverishness.

"We are worried, we are worried, our job and that of the club managers is to find solutions. If the curfew prohibits the meeting of sporting events after 8 p.m., it will be an additional complexity in an equation which is not lacking, "he confides to micro Europe 1.

Playing with the public, a necessity

"It is not ideal, it will indeed be necessary that the clubs position themselves because they take full force this situation. They must fill their room, it is professional sport, there must be public, there has an economic parameter. The ideal is to play at 8:30 p.m., but if the situation calls for it, everyone will adapt. "

Professional basketball, like other indoor disciplines, depends to a large extent financially on the public and on hospitality on match days.

"The stoppage last season was a shock, cushioned thanks to government measures and the fact that we were not dependent on TV rights," recalls Michel Mimran.

"However, if there is a generalization of the reduction of the gauge, it is considerable revenue less for our clubs. When the matches are held, they must be played with the public, if not economically, the balance s' collapse. " 

30% of matches canceled due to covid-19 cases

After four days of Jeep Elite, ex-Pro A, 30% of matches have been canceled and / or postponed due to cases of Covid-19 within the workforce.

"We are on a tight wire, a tightrope, but for the moment there is no concern," tempers the general manager of the LNB.

"We are at the start of the season, it is still long and we have dates."

But he is still forced to see further.

"There is a point where the number of cumulative canceled matches is too large, a solution will have to be found. Is this season going to go quite normally, will it end under the conditions provided for by the Regulation? We hope so. But it is obvious that we are working on adaptation scenarios. For now, we are staying on the season as planned. "

The Norris Cole case?

"Regrettable but we must keep it right"

The general manager also returned to the "Norris Cole" case.

The leader of Asvel, tested positive just before the kickoff of the match against Cholet, played the first 40 seconds of the match before being released by his coach, which provoked the ire of the Choletais mayor Gilles Bourdouleix .

"This situation is regrettable, but it only lasted 40 seconds", minimizes Michel Mimran on Europe 1. "We can blame the coach of Asvel for having made the decision a few seconds late, but we must keep it right. I want to say that this situation is almost an opportunity, because it happened in a very short time, to take now every time, even more security. The situation is complex, every moment and it was even more so that night. We will make sure that does not happen again, but the debate must calm down. "