The first edition of the so-called Elite League of Cuban Baseball It will finally begin this Saturday, October 22, with matches scheduled in Havana, Isla de la Juventud and Holguín, according to official sources.
According to the National Commission of this sport, in a note published in the sports portal Hit“the general logistics for the event are guaranteed”, after the controversy caused by the delay in the arrival of the team uniforms, which caused, in turn, the postponement of the start of the tournament.
The statement indicates that this Saturday the Port and Farmers teams will face each other starting at 2:00 pm in the Latin American Stadiumin Havana, a duel that will be broadcast on national television.
The remaining clashes of the day will be held at the same time, with the role of Tobacco Growers and Power Plants in the Cristóbal Labra Park, on Juventus Island, and Coffee Growers and Ranchers in the Calixto García Stadium, in the eastern city of Holguín.
The Elite League of #Cuban Baseball will start on saturday
This has been confirmed by a press release from the national commission for this sport. #Cuba #baseball https://t.co/hZ7Om5cEU6 pic.twitter.com/JcRfQU1JQI— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) October 20, 2022
The note adds that the purpose of each team holding 50 games during the regular phase of the competition is maintained, and points out that in order to fulfill it, “those currently pending will be recovered throughout the regular calendar.”
The information disclosed by Hit also points out that the champion team of the nascent tournament will be the representative of Cuba in the Caribbean Series of Greater Caracas 2023.
The highest authorities of baseball in Cuba have designed this league with the idea of concentrating quality in a higher level tournament than the National Series. This strategy pursues the return of the Island to the elite of this sport in the world.
Cuba is going through a crisis of results in events in all categories, generated mainly by the exodus of the most talented players, in search of fulfilling the dream of signing a contract in the United States with a team from the Major League Baseball (MLB).
However, long before the launch of the first ball, the contest began to generate controversy, both because of the criteria for grouping the provinces that would nurture each team and the formula for their formation, as well as because of the names finally chosen for each group, for whose selection, the results of a popular survey convened by its organizers were ignored.
Start of the Elite Baseball League in Cuba postponed due to lack of uniforms for the teams
But nothing generated more scandal among specialists and fans than the postponement of the start of the League, initially set for October 8, because the uniforms and equipment of the teams, contracted to the TeamMate firm, did not fully arrive in the country.
The credibility crisis came about because for only a few days the president of the Cuban Baseball Federation and in turn National Sports Commissioner, Juan Reynaldo Pérez Pardo, assured during a television appearance that everything necessary to start the tournament was in Cuba.
The controversy escalated further when a group of journalists from the official media, who had been very critical of the situation created, were marginalized from a press conference offered by the top managers of TeamMate to explain that the uniforms and other equipment contracted for the Elite League had not been sent on time due to the effects on flights caused by the passage of Hurricane Ian through western Cuba and the United States.
Finally this week, with the arrival of the packages that were still to arrive, it was possible to have all the necessary equipment for the contest, and its start could be announced this Saturday, although its organization and quality will most likely continue to be the focus of questions.
