The Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation (FCBS) announced this Sunday that the island team will compete in the VI World Baseball Classiceven though USA denied visa to eight members of his delegation.
In a statement published in state media, the Federation described the decision as an act “discriminatory, politicized and foreign to the essence of sport,” and stressed that the excluded officials had to fulfill tasks established by the organizers for all participating delegations.
The FCBS explained that these functions have been redistributed among the few available officials, including members of the coaching staff, which – as it noted – places the Cuban team at an “obvious operational and competitive disadvantage.”
“We will not give up on an event that we have been a part of since its founding edition,” stated the entity, which highlighted that “the will to compete and do so with dignity” has prevailed.
The Federation also reported that the team will travel to Arizona in the coming days to close its preparation for the tournament, which will be held from March 5 to 17, with venues in Miami, Houston, San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Tokyo (Japan).
For his part, the National Sports Institute (Inder) described the visa denial as an “act of aggression” against the island and its main sporting discipline. In an official note, the organization considered that Washington’s decision seeks to “intentionally hinder and damage the participation and performance of the Cuban team” in the competition.
Inder also maintained that sport has been, for almost seven decades, one of the sectors “most impacted by the siege policy” of the United States against Cuba.
Cuba was placed in group A of the World Classic along with the teams of Puerto Rico, Colombia, Panama and Canada.
The Cuban sports authorities reiterated that the objective is to participate with the aspiration of repeating—or improving—the historic fourth place achieved in the 2023 edition.
EFE/OnCuba
