Cuban field hockey players Wilfredo Sánchez, Wilmer Verrier, Maikel Triztán and coach Alaín Bardají terminated their contracts with the Mexican team Indios, based in Guadalajara, and determined “not to return” to the Island. According to the journalist Francys Romero, the athletes Triztán and Verrier have already “managed to reach the United States.”
Upon separating, the communicator stressed, the athletes “will have to wait eight years to return to the Island.” The Cuban Field Hockey Federation has so far not offered any comment on these defections.
The losses of Sánchez and Verrier, who in 2018 won the gold medal at the XXIII Central American and Caribbean Games, represent a hard blow for this sport that has little diffusion, but It has been practiced on the Island for more than 50 years. and that had its debut in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Havana 1982.
The performance of the Cuban national team in Colombia opened the doors for these athletes to reach the Guadalajara team. As usual in those who obtain contracts abroad, they are governed from Havana by the National Institute of Sports and Recreation (Inder).
Sánchez, Verrier and Triztán are part of the 125 athletes with contracts abroadsigned by Cuba in 2021. The regime has proclaimed that this type of outings allows them to “raise the technique and tactics, as well as favor the high-level training” of the athletes.
The losses of Sánchez and Verrier, who in 2018 won the gold medal at the XXIII Central American and Caribbean Games, represent a hard blow for this sport
With these three field hockey players, the list of “desertions” in 2022 continues to grow, with about 60 Cubans who decided to throw off the Inder yoke.
Last week, the pentathlete Melissa Garlobo left, who is now in Brazil, and the rowers Ernier Tamayo, Alexei Carballosa and Nayala Torres, who are in Mexico. The last two of this group have already entered the US, where they intend to continue their sports career.
Hours before the Cuban escaped Elianni Castellanos, member of the Baseball5 representative, who swept and won the gold medal in the I World Cup that took place in Mexico City. On November 12, the baseball player from Pinar del Río Tony Guerra managed to reach the US after making the journey through the “route of the volcanoes”, via Nicaragua and Mexico.
In the last three years, more than a hundred athletes have left Havana, including Juan Miguel Echevarria, Ismael Borrero Y Andy Cruzwho boarded a flight to the Dominican Republic and is training to recover his rhythm and seek to continue his boxing career as a professional.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
