Cuban athletes attending the U-23 Baseball World Cup welcomed

Athletes attending the Baseball World Cup received. Photo: JIT.

“We are proud of the attitude that you maintained,” said Inder’s first vice president, Raúl Fornés Valenciano, welcoming the members of the Cuban delegation that returned to the homeland today after obtaining fourth place in the III U-23 Baseball World Cup.

“Despite the difficulties faced, the many pressures and the dirty game of which they were the center, they knew how to raise the flag and fight with claw,” he added at the José Martí International Airport, where he was accompanied by the vice president of the organization Ariel Sainz Rodríguez and the national commissioner Juan Reynaldo Pérez Pardo.

Fornés highlighted the meaning of not wavering, contrary to those who abandoned the commitment to the team, the country and its followers, and the atmosphere generated among the many compatriots who applauded the performance that allowed access to the super round and contest the bronze in the contest organized in Mexico.

“The ability to impose ourselves prevailed, aware that the best response would be the one issued from the field of play,” said Luis Daniel del Risco, the director of the Cuban Baseball Federation, when releasing a statement that JIT reproduces in full. next.

Statement from the Cuban delegation

The athletes, coaches and managers who return to the country with the satisfaction of having been faithful to it, we appreciate the show of affection, trust and support received during our participation in the III U-23 Baseball World Cup held in the Mexican cities of Obregón and Hermosillo.

The many messages received, knowing that we are in the center of the attention of millions of compatriots and the permanent link with the authorities of the Inder, together with the work of our diplomatic and sports missions in the host country, added strengths to the conviction of triumph. that we never lacked.

That was the prevailing spirit in the most tense moments, when the lineage of which we are heirs became an irreplaceable inspiration to pass on the weakness of those who betrayed the collective commitment forged during hard days of preparation, yielding to the impudence with which a sustained and disrespectful siege was created, completely alien to the essences of sport.

Even when each casualty generated fissures in the strategic field, limiting the options available to the team’s management, the ability to impose ourselves prevailed, aware that the best response would be the one issued from the field of play, beyond the disagreements that always cause negative outcomes.

That is why we held the flag high when many predicted total debacle; We enjoyed the arrival to the super round and were once again happy when our people enjoyed the access to a fought bronze discussion that must have tasted like gall to those who did the unspeakable to demoralize us.

We reiterate that, as has been recalled during these days, the activity of the traffickers who contaminated the competition venues is directly supported by the annulment of the implementation of the agreement signed by the Cuban Baseball Federation with the Major League Baseball (MLB ).

We insist that its annulment closes the doors to the safe and orderly insertion of our athletes in that circuit, threatens the well-being and tranquility of the Cuban family and conditions that the aspiration to prove themselves at that level passes through humiliating and discriminatory treatment that It means giving up their nationality and risking their lives.

At the same time that we reject the option of abandonment, contrary to the glory treasured by our sport, we denounce the pettiness with which the Donald Trump administration disabled the agreement, determined to stimulate chapters such as those now experienced by our delegation, to present them as part of his smear campaign against Cuba.

It was an honor to represent a people that struggled, determined not to surrender, and it only bothers us not to have given them a superior result, a purpose that always encouraged us.

(Taken from HIT)

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