After a seemingly never-ending uphill battle for AS Monaco Basketball, the Roca Team remains excluded from France’s top two basketball divisions and has now declared its ambitions to register for Nationale Masculine 1.
Due to financial challenges throughout the 2025-2026 season and a lack of a solid restructuring plan heading into the upcoming season, Monaco faced multiple rejections in its efforts to retain its place at the highest level of French basketball.
On Tuesday 1st September, the Roca Team released a statement announcing that it had submitted an application to compete in NM1, with the ambition of “regaining its place at the top of French basketball”. Despite being reigning Betclic Élite champions, the team is now facing a potentially massive drop in level, with NM1 representing the third tier of French basketball, should the application be approved.
With time not on its side, Monaco’s administration was forced to consider alternative options after multiple appeals failed to secure the club’s place in the top competitions. Following months of deliberation, appeals, and rejections, Monaco has ultimately turned to NM1 as its most promising path forward.
Alongside this, Monaco will no longer compete in the EuroCup as planned and has officially been replaced in the competition’s lineup. Bosna BH Telecom Sarajevo has been announced as Monaco’s replacement for the upcoming season.
The club’s statement also shared that the youth academy will play a crucial role in the rebuilding of the Roca Team, with Monaco now looking towards its younger players as part of its efforts to work its way back up the French basketball pyramid.
Looking ahead, the Roca Team still faces a great deal of uncertainty. There are no guarantees that its NM1 application will be approved, and even if it is, questions remain over what that transition will look like for a team that was competing at the highest level in Europe just last season.
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Photo credit: AS Monaco Basket