Illustrative image taken from Archivo/RHC

Havana, January 23 (RHC)-- The Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) reiterated on Monday its denunciations of the discriminatory treatment suffered by its players who will take part in the V World Baseball Classic.

In particular, the FCB criticized the license granted by the U.S. Government to the organizers of the event, which prohibits players of Cuban origin, with residence in that country, to travel to Cuba to participate in any action related to the event.

The entity indicated that the provision includes not only the current training phase, which takes place at the Latin American Stadium in Havana, but also the time after the competition, which means that they could not even celebrate with their teammates and fans, in the event that our team wins the V Classic.

In addition, the document vetoes players subject to this license from participating in training and pre-competition preparation games that the Cuban national team plans to develop abroad.

They may only join the team on March 3, just five days before the start of the tournament, a restriction valid for all Major League Baseball (MLB) players, not only those of Cuban origin.

"However, in the specific case of Cuba, the restriction extends to all players with legal residence in the United States, even if they do not belong to the MLB circuit," the note said.

"The FCB firmly denounced this discriminatory treatment to which Cuban players and the national team are subjected, victims of irrational and politically motivated prohibitions, consistent with the hostile policy of the United States against Cuba and alien to the essence of the sport, and its healthy and constructive enjoyment," added the FCB.

The world's premier baseball event will be held in several venues from March 8 to 21, 2023.