Photo: Prensa Latina

Havana, November 1 (PL)-- The president of the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB), Juan Reinaldo Perez, revealed that there is a campaign of disinformation, pressures and harassment to players inserted in professional leagues in view of the World Classic, scheduled for March.

In a note published by the weekly Jit, the executive ratified the interest of the FCB to call for international commitments to players inserted in foreign leagues, but denounced the execution of a malicious maneuver of false news and coercion to derail that purpose and thus demotivate and intimidate the truly interested players.

According to the authority, Cuba will maintain its work with baseball players interested in representing the country and will opportunely offer all possible information to the press, always respecting the criteria of those who prefer total discretion in this regard.

Regarding the call-up, he specified that it will respond to the technical-tactical demands of the national team, the prominence of the events and the willingness of the players.

"We are not aware of any other national federation facing these situations, affirmed the head of the FCB and stressed that the situation would be very different if the agreement signed between that entity and Major League Baseball (MLB) of the United States were active.

On this subject, he acknowledged exchanges with the MLB in relation to the V Classic, but also that an operational agreement would favor many other strategies and joint actions.

 Furthermore, he reaffirmed that the responsibility for the non-existence of such an agreement today is entirely attributable to the US government.

He also confirmed that the champion of the Elite League will attend the Gran Caracas Caribbean Series 2023, to be held in February.

In the First Elite League of Cuban Baseball, Pavel Quesada won the distinction of player of the week thanks to the criteria of the press and the CNB, but the favor of the fans went to Leonardo Urgellés by a narrow margin, while Yuen Socarrás won the award among pitchers unanimously.