The President of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, received this Wednesday at the Palace of the Revolution, in Havana, the head of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), Riccardo Fraccarireported official media on the island.
“For us it is a new opportunity to be able to share,” said the Cuban president, who thanked the sports director for the support given to the Caribbean country in the field of baseball, for “how the value of baseball and softball has been defended, for on your part and on the part of the Confederation, from positions of principle and from the values of these sports”, according to the review of the exchange published by the official newspaper Granma.
Cuban President received Fraccari, head of the @WBSC The president thanked the distinguished visitor for the support given to the country, according to the Presidency of the Republic. #Cuba #baseball #Baseball https://t.co/RTRIDtNLlC pic.twitter.com/9HCxK2leUK
— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) May 5, 2022
Díaz-Canel also thanked the visitor for “the support they have given our country in a group of programs, of projects to strengthen the development of these sports,” and emphasized the scope of the memorandum for the protection of the hiring of the Cuban athletes, which was signed this Wednesday by the presidents of the WBSC and the Cuban Baseball Federation.
As Fraccari explained at a press conference, the text, in addition to being related to the development of the sport in Cubaincludes the possible creation of academies and, above all, the Confederation’s support for the hiring of Cuban baseball players in professional leagues, specifies the daily of the Communist Party.
In the meeting with Riccardo Fraccari, the president denounced the perverse intentions of the US government to promote all kinds of obstacles to hinder the development of a sport that is at the center of Cuban identity, and commented on the enthusiasm for the possibility of the international academy, for what she represents for the growth of sports activity, details the publication.
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Fraccari reminded Díaz-Canel that a large part of his preparation took place in our archipelago, where he was able to participate in courses, in addition to having been the first foreign referee to intervene in the Cuban league after the Revolution, the source said.
Accustomed to “speaking very clearly”, Fraccari affirmed that “Cuban baseball, which for me is historic, must resume the brilliance that it deserves and that it can have. So what we did this morning (the signing of the memorandum of understanding) is something historic,” he was quoted as saying. Granma.
According to this newspaper, Fraccari later declared to the press that “the President is in love with baseball”, and described the meeting as very friendly, in which “the things that unite us” were discussed. He commented that “you can see that he is aware of what is happening, he is interested because baseball is the heritage of this country; So I left very happy.”
He points out the information that several political and sports leaders from the Island were present at the exchange, as well as other members of the WBSC who accompany Fraccari on his work visit.
