The stellar Cuban boxerMario Kindelan He recalled in a recent interview when he had to sell his gold medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics due to the crisis he was going through.
"I don't regret it. I sold it because I found myself in a critical situation. I had practically nothing to eat or to support my daughters, and I had personal problems that led me to divorce. I sold it because it was better to have four or five pesos to be able to eat than desert," he toldPlay off magazine.
Kindelán, double Olympic champion and three-time world champion, was an athlete close to the dictator Fidel Castro, whom he still calls "our Commander", and who - the boxer assures - helped athletes in any situation.
The former boxer recalled what happened in 2004, prior to the Athens Olympic Games, when Hurricane Charley crossed the Island and destroyed the homes of three of his teammates: Odlanier Solís, Yan Bartelemí and Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Kindelán went to see the president of INDER, Humberto Rodríguez, and presented him with the case of the three, who had a high probability of achieving gold in the Games, but the manager told him that there was nothing he could do. Upon hearing the answer, Mario decided to go to the Council of State and managed to have Fidel personally receive him. An hour later, the problem was solved.
For Kindelán, his greatest pride is having helped Solís, Bartelemí and Rigondeaux, but above all, that the three traveled to Greece and were crowned Olympic champions, even though the INDER leaders wished they had lost.
"From that moment on, I have had many problems. (...) They saw me as a nuisance, as practically an enemy, because when I needed something and I could see the president of INDER, I went directly to Fidel, because he gave me that faculty," he stressed.
"They saw me as a threat, but my education, my loyalty, my commitment and my humility did not allow me to say what disasters they were doing. Other people who were paid for it had to realize that, not me. As long as they didn't mess with me or boxing, that didn't interest me," he explained.
Mario Kindelán assured thatINDER is full of corruption and theft, and urged the ruler Díaz-Canel to "realize the atrocities."
Regarding the sale of his medals, he pointed out that the theft that occurred years ago at the INDER Museum in Holguín, where he donated all his trophies, hurts him much more.
Among the stolen items is a gold and platinum dagger that the President of Ireland personally gave him in 2001 for his victory in the Belfast World Cup.
"The dagger was stolen from that museum without breaking doors, windows, glass; without breaking anything. I found out through some police officers who arrested me when I was in the car. Today, I am waiting for an INDER executive to come forward. and tell me what happened, or that they are behind them, or that they resolved something. They worry about the sale of my medals, but they don't worry about the theft of my trophies," he questioned.
Mario has been able to recover several of his trophies on his own and also knows who has the dagger. His aspiration is to return to Cuba with everyone, unless he finds it necessary to sell them.
Currently, the boxer from Holguin is in Bahrain, a country located in the Persian Gulf, where he works as a trainer at the Grappling Club.
"Here they had been trying to locate me for more than seven years to work for them as a coach, and INDER always responded that I was not qualified or fully trained to attend those contracts. INDER asked them if they wanted another coach with experience, but that I was not reachable," he denounced.
The team always refused to receive another technician, until they finally managed to contact him online. Upon arriving in Bahrain, they showed him all the emails exchanged with the Cuban Boxing Federation.
What do you think?
SEE COMMENTS (1)Filed in: