MADRID, Spain.- The Government of the United States approved that Cuban baseball players residing in that country be part of the team that will represent Cuba in the V World Baseball Classic, which will take place from March 8 to 21, 2023.
“We have received a communication from the organizers of the Clásico announcing that the license requested by them was granted so that Team Cuba can register Cuban athletes, whether they are from MLB or not, who have residence in the United States,” said Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, president of the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB).
Quoted by the official HITPérez Pardo indicated that this was “the only fair solution to the issue” and thanked the MLB and the World Baseball Softball Confederation, organizers of the tournament.
“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 manager considered.
“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”, he added.
According to his statements, when the details of the license granted are given, the FCB will announce the pre-schedule of Team Cuba.
Controversies prior to the recent approval
For decades the Cuban government was opposed to summoning emigrated baseball players to the United States. Due to the crisis that baseball is going through on the Island and the shortage of players due to the massive exodus, the FCB decided to summon them for this Classic.
In recent months, the Federation has been announcing that several of these players have accepted their invitation, including Andy Ibáñez (Texas Rangers), Yoan López (New York Mets) and Elián Leyva (Hermosillo Naranjeros).
However, at the beginning of December it emerged that these athletes they had not yet obtained the permits of the United States government.
Regarding this information shared with the fans, without permission being granted, the sports media Full Swing He questioned: “If such permission was necessary for the athletes, it was the duty of the Cuban federations to inform the public that precisely nothing had materialized even with the yes of the athletes.”
Just as he considered that “the tendency of those who direct the sport in Cuba to leave things to the last minute takes its toll once again, and the fact that it is not until now that they find out that the players had to have a permit from the The US government also makes them look very bad.”
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