Joel Embiid had promised President Macron he’d only play for France

Back in 2021, Embiid sent an official letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, claiming he would not play for any other team than France, asking for his support in acquiring French citizenship.

Following months of indecision, Joel Embiid will ultimately play for Team USA. However, a letter has surfaced where the player himself has promised the French president Emmanuel Macron he would only play for France.

French news outlet RMC Sport managed to acquire a letter sent by Embiid to Macron on October 28th, 2021, where the player clearly expresses his desire to play for France, while also asking to acquire French citizenship.

“I, therefore, do not wish to play for any other national team,” Embiid states in the letter, asking for Macron’s support for his case.

Free throws this season

Embiid ultimately acquired French citizenship in 2022 but chose to play for Team USA instead of France.

Embiid’s full letter to Macron:

Mister President,

I know your sincere interest in basketball and its development and, more generally, in sports, which brings honor to France. However, I am not writing to you to talk to you about the NBA season, which is opening and for which I have great hopes with my club, the Philadelphia 76ers. I now play a leadership role and aspire to make my club a serious candidate for the title.

I am writing to tell you about France. Although I spent a large part of my youth in the USA as well as in France, I am of Cameroonian nationality. I was born in 1994 in Yaoundé. Cameroon will, therefore, always remain an important part of my identity. However, another is French. Part of my family is, in fact, French, and beyond sharing the language, I have often stayed in France. As soon as I have the opportunity, I visit my aunts, Suzanne and Lucie, living in Courtry and Courcouronnes, as well as my first cousin Pierre, who lives in Evry. I have fond memories of my summer vacations spent in France, like the summer of 2009, during which I was able to spend the entire month of July enjoying the capital. Moreover, I still regularly go to Paris, where I wish to acquire a permanent second home.

Also, after discussions with the French Basketball Federation, my choice has now been made. I would like to take the steps to obtain French naturalization and thus be eligible for selection with the Blues. I, therefore, do not wish to play for any other national team. I have sent a file to this effect to the Ministry of the Interior and Foreign Affairs.

I have never worn the colors of any national team. It would be an immense honor for me to join this French team to participate in the next major international competitions, first and foremost the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

I measure the solemnity of my request, what it represents, what it means, but also in certain respects its duration and its complexity against the usual criteria for granting nationality. I therefore ask for your support in these initiatives, support without which they will not be successful.

I am naturally at your disposal and those of your services to support this common ambition that we share with the French basketball team and its leaders.

Thanking you for your attention to my request, and asking you to believe, Mr. President, in the expression of my deepest consideration.

Joel Embiid

Credit RMC Sport

Credit RMC Sport

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