Havana, Dec 25 (EFE).- Cuba has received a permit from the United States that will allow it to include baseball players who play in the Major Leagues (MLB) in the national team that will participate in the V World Classic.
“We have received a communication from the organizers of the Clásico announcing that the license requested by them was granted so that the Cuba team can register Cuban athletes, whether they are from MLB or not, who have residence in the United States. », reported the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) in a note replicated this Sunday by the state media of the Caribbean country.
The V World Baseball Classic will be held from March 8 to 21, 2023 in the cities of Taichung (Taiwan), Tokyo and Phoenix and Miami (United States).
Andy Ibáñez (Detroit Tigers) and Yoan López (New York Mets) are some of the Cubans who confirmed their presence on the Cuban roster for the tournament.
The note signed by the president of the FCB, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, recognizes “these gestures as positive steps” and points out that “it was the only fair solution to the issue.”
“It is arbitrary and discriminatory that a permit from the United States Government is needed for the organizers of a sporting event to guarantee the participation of a country like Cuba,” the federation affirmed.
Remember that Cuba “is not only the founder of these contests, but also earned its inclusion by qualifying like the rest of the 19 teams that will participate in the V Clásico.”
“It is equally unfair that Cuban athletes, because the ones we are going to summon are Cubans, trained in our country and who, despite all the pressures, want to represent their people, also depend on an authorization from the US Government. to comply their dream of playing with the country that saw them born”, affirmed Pérez Pardo.
He also appreciates the work of the MLB and the World Baseball and Softball Confederation in their role as organizers of the Classic.
Regarding the communication from the organizers of the contest, he refers that they will soon inform the details of the license granted to Cuba and in this sense the FCB said that after that it will announce the pre-selection of the Cuba team.
In 2018, the Cuban authorities signed a historic agreement with the MLB that allowed island players to sign professional contracts to play in the American Major Leagues without losing their residence on the island or their link with the Federation.
That agreement was annulled in April 2019 by the administration of then US President Donald Trump, alleging that the Baseball Federation belongs to the Cuban government and violates US trade law.
At the beginning of last November, Pérez Pardo warned that “pressure and harassment” was being exerted against players in foreign leagues so that they would not play with Cuba in the V Clásico.
Baseball, declared Cultural Heritage of Cuba, is not going through its best moment on the island and is suffering an unprecedented exodus of players. EFE
