“The sanction against Casañas is a lack of respect,” says his colleague Luis César Valdés

One of the best referees who have passed through the National Series, Luis César Valdés, raises his voice against the sanction imposed by the Cuban baseball board on his colleague Luis Felipe Casañas.

"It is a lack of respect. That way they will have to start sanctioning everyone and in Cuba there are no referees for that. To give you an example, shortly before that game another umpire struck out a batter twice, once with a very low pitch and the other with an overhead pitch. Then, what are you going to do? Sanction him too? I repeat: there are no referees for that. If they are going to be this exquisite, they should hire referees in Puerto Rico or some other country.”

The National Commission decided to remove Casañas, a Group Leader with 23 island seasons under his belt, for what it considered a “poor job” in the second match of the semifinal between Industriales and Camagüey.

However, many saw in punitive action the revenge of certain authorities upset by the defeat of the representative of Havana, a city that in 2019 celebrated its 500th birthday and intended to put the icing on the cake with the victory of the Industrialists.

“Every time a referee works poorly you can't sanction him, that's nonsense,” concluded Valdés, who led the country's men in black years ago.

In the National Series, referees earn less than the equivalent of two dollars per match, whether they work at home plate or on the bases. To make matters worse, lately they have to do their work under the relentless Cuban sun.