ITA/FRA - Messina says no to France
MILAN (EuroBasket 2009) – It has emerged that Italian coaching great Ettore Messina was given the chance to coach France next summer but the CSKA Moscow boss turned down the opportunity because he didn’t want to be a “traitor”.
Messina was in Milan leading CSKA against Armani Jeans Milano in the Euroleague and a story appeared in the La Stampa newspaper in which the veteran tactician admitted the French job could have been his but he said he simply could not coach against his homeland in the Additional Qualifying Round for EuroBasket 2009.
Only one of the six national teams in the additional qualifiers can reach the Final Round in Poland.
"The truth is that I did turn down the opportunity to coach the French national team,” Messina said in La Stampa.
"But not for rules that could pose a problem, but because I will never be a traitor to my country.
"We will play against France in a game that means life and death to all of Italian basketball.
“I will never coach a team that could decide negatively the destiny of my national team."
France, Italy and Finland face each other in one Additional Qualifying Round group while Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belgium square off in the other.
The winners of the two groups then meet each other and the national side that triumphs in that meeting advances to the Final Round in Poland.
Messina once coached Italy’s national team.
He has been persistently linked with the Toronto Raptors the past couple of years and even gave a coaching clinic on big men before the NBA season in the Ontario city before CSKA Moscow took on the Raptors in a pre-season scrimmage.
The speculation won’t be dying anytime soon after the Raptors’ sacking of coach Sam Mitchell on Wednesday.
Toronto, the NBA’s only Canadian team, replaced Mitchell with former Canada coach Jay Triano.
Messina has also been linked with the Barcelona coaching post.
“Regarding the rumors of going to Barcelona, I can only say that I don´t know what I will do at the end of the season,” he said.
MILAN (EuroBasket 2009) – It has emerged that Italian coaching great Ettore Messina was given the chance to coach France next summer but the CSKA Moscow boss turned down the opportunity because he didn’t want to be a “traitor”.
Messina was in Milan leading CSKA against Armani Jeans Milano in the Euroleague and a story appeared in the La Stampa newspaper in which the veteran tactician admitted the French job could have been his but he said he simply could not coach against his homeland in the Additional Qualifying Round for EuroBasket 2009.
Only one of the six national teams in the additional qualifiers can reach the Final Round in Poland.
"The truth is that I did turn down the opportunity to coach the French national team,” Messina said in La Stampa.
"But not for rules that could pose a problem, but because I will never be a traitor to my country.
"We will play against France in a game that means life and death to all of Italian basketball.
“I will never coach a team that could decide negatively the destiny of my national team."
France, Italy and Finland face each other in one Additional Qualifying Round group while Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belgium square off in the other.
The winners of the two groups then meet each other and the national side that triumphs in that meeting advances to the Final Round in Poland.
Messina once coached Italy’s national team.
He has been persistently linked with the Toronto Raptors the past couple of years and even gave a coaching clinic on big men before the NBA season in the Ontario city before CSKA Moscow took on the Raptors in a pre-season scrimmage.
The speculation won’t be dying anytime soon after the Raptors’ sacking of coach Sam Mitchell on Wednesday.
Toronto, the NBA’s only Canadian team, replaced Mitchell with former Canada coach Jay Triano.
Messina has also been linked with the Barcelona coaching post.
“Regarding the rumors of going to Barcelona, I can only say that I don´t know what I will do at the end of the season,” he said.
Messina could have acted more professionally (if the reason he mentioned is actually the reason)

With that position, he won't coach any other NT imo. If, for instance, he became the coach of Spain and Italy was drawn in the same group as them, would he quit just not to defeat Italy? Or would he lose the game on purpose? This just doesn't make sense to me.
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