Cuban authorities confirmed that the national baseball team will not attend the 2024 Miami Caribbean Series because it was not invited.
The news was announced at a press conference by Juan Reynaldo Pérez Pardo, president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, and Carlos Martín, director of the Cuban Elite Baseball League.
This confirms what was said in April by ESPN journalist Enrique Rojas, whoannounced that Cuba would not be invited to the event, and that only Curacao and Nicaragua would accompany the members of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico and Puerto Rico).
In this year's Series, held in Venezuela, the Cuban representative, Agricultores, came in last place by winning only one of its seven challenges.
At the conference it was announced that those athletes who do not want to play in the League or another national tournament, their attitude will be taken into account to integrate the team that participates in international events next year.
"A group of athletes preferred not to participate for different reasons, some justified and others not. The player chooses whether he wants to play or not, and then we will take them into account or not when calling the preselection for the upcoming competitions," he said. Pérez Pardo, cited byRadio Rebelde.
"Whoever wants can come, both for the Elite League and for the National Series. We know that there are elements of insurance that many advocate for them and that it gets out of hand, but we know that it would be ideal to have a tournament higher," he added.
Last weekII Elite Cuban Baseball League began, surrounded by criticism for the decision to hold the games at night, wasting electricity while the population suffers blackouts; the absence of several key players, the fact that only six provinces will be represented, and the general perception that it is a tournament that does not contribute to the effectiveness of the sport, since the National Series itself suffers from a multitude of shortcomings and difficulties.
Every time Cuban baseball players play in Miami, the government resumes its spiel that its athletes are insulted by the Cuban exile fans.
In March, in the semifinals of the World Classic, theMINREX denounced "acts of hostility" against the team. One of the trainers, the extorpedoGermán Mesa declared that "we even fight with the public".
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