AFC's tour of the opening tournament begins

Havana, January 19 (RHC)-- The president of the Cuban Football Association, Oliet Rodriguez, began a tour of the province of Pinar del Rio, which will take him all over the country.

The visits are aimed at observing the readiness of each territory for the National Soccer League that will begin next February 5 with its opening championship, and to evaluate which elements are not ready to give them an early solution.

In the western province, the executive corroborated the progress in the works of the new field that is being built. He observed on site how much has been done and insisted that there is still a lot of work ahead.

The director of INDER in the province, Pablo Véliz Reina, said that the completion date of the work is set for the first four months of 2022 and that they have the support of the authorities of the Party and the Government.

Rodríguez, accompanied by the head of the AFC development office, José Yulier Herranz, also visited the grounds of the Nancy Uranga Faculty of Physical Culture, a facility that serves as the headquarters of the Pinar del Río team.

There he was able to check the state of the field and offered recommendations on maintenance activities that are still needed and possible to be carried out before the start of the opening tournament.

Together with the vice-president of sports activities in Cuba's westernmost territory, Berto Friol, he arrived at the November 19 Multipurpose Hall to learn details of the remodeling project and verified what has been done so far.

He took the opportunity to chat with athletes of the provincial futsal pre-selection team, to whom he conveyed a message of confidence and urged them to maintain discipline and enjoy the game.

The AFC president also referred, during the tour, to the attention to referees and the need for courses, which has decreased in recent years.

He also pointed out the attention that the referees must receive during the national tournament, as well as the strict rules to ensure respect for them.

In addition, he pointed out organizational issues related to the budget for the national championship, as well as its structural and logistical assurance, emphasizing the safety of athletes, coaches and the public present in the stadiums.

The delegation inquired about the accommodation conditions of the athletes, as well as their food. Finally, the issue of footballs was discussed and their use for soccer development was verified.

In this sense, support was offered to the communities with some of the 145 balls that recently arrived at the Ormani Arenado Llonch School of School Sports Initiation, in response to the growth of sports in general and soccer in particular.

Regarding the balls recently delivered through the AFC, he insisted on supervising their destination and use to prevent unscrupulous elements from profiting from the tremendous effort made in this regard. At the moment there is more than one ball per student in the Eide.