France point guard Tony Parker has insisted his calf injury is not serious and will not threaten his participation in EuroBasket which starts on Friday in Serbia & Montenegro.

The San Antonio Spurs star was rested during Les Bleus' 83-75 victory over Italy in Milan in their last preparation match on Tuesday.

He said on his personal website www.tp9.net: "The medical staff did not want to take any risk three days before the opener against Greece at the Euro.

		“	I want to say that Fred's (Weis) arrival is a very good thing for the French team	„
		Tony Parker

"I picked up the blow against Turkey (furing the Limoges tournament last Saturday) and I have been feeling a little pain in my calf since.

"It was preferable not to play last night against Italy. There was no need to insist.

"However I will be back with my team-mates tomorrow to train ahead of Friday."

Parker also insisted he was happy at the return of Frederic Weis to the national side.

The French center replaced Claude Marquis in the squad at the start of the week but Weis had turned down coach Claude Bergeaud's call-up last April, claiming he needed time to rest.

Parker blasted the context of Weis' return, declaring in the Sunday press:

"Frankly it's really annoying me to see that he (Weis) is included into the team when he did not want to take part in the preparation.

"Some guys worked hard for one month and one of them is now sidelined. This is a question of respect."

But on his website he softened his stance, claiming the arrival of Weis in the squad is a bonus.

"It's just hard for Claude (Marquis), who was not happy," added Parker. "But to end the controversy I want to say that Fred's arrival is a very good thing for the French team.

"What annoyed me in the past few days is that we were not told about his arrival. We found out about it on Friday by reading the papers.

"We were all asked to be present at the start of the preparation, except Fred.

"We were all very surprised about his return, that's all. But all those things will not unsettle the group. The main objective is now to book our ticket to the world championships."

"We are competitors so this will not affect the team. As far as I am concerned I want to insist again that I have nothing against Frederic Weis.

We cannot refuse a tall guy like him. He is going to help us out. "I was just disappointed about the way he returned to international action."