The Swedish Basketball Federation (SBBF) announced on Thursday it had suspended Jonas Jerebko from the national team.
The organization’s secretary general, Fredrik Joulamo, spoke with Jerebko about how his decision to play in Russia directly conflicts with FIBA’s and the SBBF values.
“Unfortunately, we are forced to state there are no conditions for Jonas Jerebko to play for the Sweden basketball national team,” stated the SBBF in their press release.
FIBA along with the Swedish Basketball Federation condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Jerebko, like many of his teammates on the national team called for peace, and voiced their support for Ukraine.
All Russian teams were removed from the Euroleague and 7DAYS EuroCup. CSKA, on the other hand, has been playing in the VTB United League, a professional basketball league with mostly Russian teams except for one team each from Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Jerebko has been playing overseas for the last three seasons. He last played for the Swedish National Team in late February, when Sweden took on Croatia in a pair of games. Jerebko started both of those games, scoring 16 points in the second matchup.
The Kinna native made his national team debut for Sweden as a teenager and was part of an historic roster that competed at FIBA EuroBasket for the first time in 2013.
The Swedish national team will face off against Finland and Slovenia in the FIBA World Cup European Group C qualifying tournament in 2023.
After a successful 10-year career in the NBA, Jerebko returned to Europe. He spent his time with various teams, including the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and Utah Jazz. He last played for the Golden State Warriors, reaching the NBA Finals in 2019, before moving to the Khimki Moscow team later that year.
He left the Khimki Russian team midway through the 2020-21 season and has been on the inactive roster at the club.
Jerebko’s contract with CSKA runs through the remainder of the current season.
“Where we (the Swedish Basketball Federation) stand on this question is quite clear. We have run a fundraiser, condemned Russia’s invasion, and backed FIBA’s decision. But we are not involved in our players’ contracts. We’ll have to talk about what this means for Jonas and us in the future.”
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