The Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) considered this Monday discriminatory the treatment to which the Cuban players and the team that will represent them in the V have been subjected World Baseball Classic (WBC)based on the licenses received to participate in the tournament, which will begin on March 8.
In a declaration published in the sports portal Hitthe governing body of baseball in Cuba informs that the license granted by the United States government to the organizers for athletes of Cuban origin residing in that country to integrate the team prohibits those players, whether or not they belong to a team in the Major League Baseball (MLB)“travel to Cuba to participate in any action related to the contest”.
Cuban Federation of #Baseball denounce discriminatory treatment
Rejects the discriminatory treatment of the license granted by the United States Government to the organizers of the V World Baseball Classic. #Cuba #elCubaClasico #CubanBaseballhttps://t.co/0zUSThEYCk pic.twitter.com/xo47vQ2vf3— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) January 23, 2023
According to the published text, the limitation “includes not only the current training phase”, which began a week ago at the Latin American Stadium in Havana, as it extends to the moment after the competition.
The FCB points out that the players included in the license granted “could not even celebrate with their teammates and the fans, in the event that our team won the V Clásico.”
According to the publication, there are other restrictions, valid for all players on the MLB circuit, regardless of the country with which they play. In this sense, it points out that none of the athletes subject to the license will be able to participate in the pre-competition training and preparation games that the Cuban team plans to develop abroad, since they could only join the group on March 3, just five days before the start of the contest.
However, the license granted by the US government clarifies that in the specific case of Cuba, this restriction extends to all athletes with legal residence in the United States, even if they do not belong to the MLB circuit.
The statement states that the FCB “firmly denounces this discriminatory treatment to which Cuban baseball players and the national team are subjected.”
The organization considers that its players are “victims of irrational and politically motivated prohibitions,” and stresses that this decision is “coherent with the hostile policy of the United States against Cuba and alien to the essence of sport, and its healthy and constructive enjoyment.” ».
Despite these drawbacks, the FCB reiterated its commitment to “continue working with the objective of representing its people with dignity in the V World Baseball Classic.”
Since the first edition of these tournaments, the participation of the Cuban team has been subject to the approval of the United States Government, taking into account the role of organizer assumed by the MLB, which must be governed by the regulations that legally support economic and financial sanctions. imposed on the island.
On this occasion, the licenses are extended to some players who belong to teams on the American professional circuit or to those who reside in that country, who for the first time have been included in the call to select the national team.
The Cuban team was included this time in group A, which will be based in the Taiwanese city of Taichung, where the teams from the Netherlands, Italy and Panama appear in addition to the host team.
Cuba has participated in the four previous editions of the World Baseball Classic. His best performance in these competitions dates from the initial version, held in 2006, when he finished in second position after losing in the final to the team from Japan.
