By José Alejandro Rodríguez Zas
The Ministry of Sports and Recreation (MIDEREC) of the Dominican Republic reported that the bilateral agreement between said organization and Cubadeportes, an entity that has the exclusive rights to market products and services related to Cuban sports, had come to an end, after almost 30 years of work.
As part of this agreement, several dozen Cuban technicians provided their services to the different national teams of the Dominican nation, with excellent results.
However, the agreement officially ended on December 5, 2020 and, since then, the authorities of Quito have negotiated with Cubadeportes for a possible renewal of the agreement, but the high costs in salaries have been an obstacle in the talks.
Cubadeportes even requested a possible 10% increase in the payment, which was not well seen by MIDEREC and finally an agreement was not reached. Therefore, the contract between both parties came to an end.
Since last December, more than 40 Cuban coaches hired by the Dominican government, under the protection of the agreement, have returned to Cuba, except for the athletic trainer Yaseen Pérez Gómez.
The Cuban is the coach of the Dominican sprinters Yancarlo Martínez and Marileidy Paulino, the latter a two-time Olympic silver medalist in Tokyo 2020, in the 400-meter dash and as part of the 4 × 400-meter relay. He also trains another
Yancarlo Martínez, Marileidy Paulino and coach Yaseen Pérez Gómez
Pérez Gómez decided not to go to Cuba with the end of the agreement last December and kept his pupil trained, without receiving salary, sleeping in the Olympic shelter and at the risk of losing his visa.
The high costs of the agreement are the fundamental cause of the total rupture of the agreement between MIDEREC and Cubadeportes. In a note posted In Diario Libre it is indicated that, only in the name of Pérez Gómez, MIDEREC sent Cubadeportes “a monthly payment of RD $ 113,224 until December,” which represents approximately $ 2,000 dollars.
The note adds that, only in 2020, MIDEREC paid Cubadeportes a total of $ 776,736.48 dollars, for “professional services in sports.” Monthly salaries for Cuban coaches range from $ 500 to $ 2,400.
However, the most notable thing here is that, of this total, “60% goes to the Cuban Sports Institute (Inder) and 40% to the pocket of the coaches”, which evidently makes the agreement much more expensive for the Quisqueyan part .
In fact “until 2016, the ratio was 70-30, when the coaches won a claim,” which is truly disproportionate.
Despite the news, all is not lost for the Cuban coaches and, especially, for Yaseen, as they still have a gap to continue working.
As Gerardo Suero, president of the Dominican Federation of Athletics Associations (FDAA) explained, “the pact with Cubadeportes does not follow, what will be direct hiring.”
This means that, instead of negotiating with Cubadeportes, MIDEREC will allow each national federation to request two foreign technicians, who will be paid their salary and accommodation.
Suero himself reported that the FDDA will request the services of the athletic trainer Pérez Gómez, who has already been offered a payment of RD $ 50,000 (about $ 900 dollars), in addition to covering his lodging.
“The relationship with Cuba has been very important, what is the work of Cuban coaches with our athletes, we value as positive, there are federations that have not needed, but for us it is very important,” said Suero.
Cuba’s sports collaboration agreement in the Dominican Republic began in 1992 and was renewed intermittently until December 2020.