Cuba shut out of World Baseball Classic!!

[RunawaySlave]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>U.S. government shuts Cuba out of World Baseball Classic</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" type="block" width="1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
December 15, 2005</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. government is shutting Cuba out of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, citing the standing embargo against the communist island nation.




The Treasury Department told Major League Baseball of its decision Wednesday, said Pat Courtney, a spokesman for the commissioner's office.



The sport's first World Cup-style tournament, originally to include 16 teams, was jointly organized by the commissioner's office and the players' union. It runs from March 3-20 in the United States, Puerto Rico and Japan.





Organizers will work to have the decision reversed, said Paul Archey, the senior vice president of Major League Baseball International, and Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the Major League Baseball Players Association.



A permit from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control is necessary because of U.S. laws governing certain commercial transactions with the Fidel Castro-controlled nation.



"We are very disappointed with the government's decision to deny the participation of a team from Cuba in the World Baseball Classic," Archey and Orza said. "We will continue to work within appropriate channels in an attempt to address the government's concerns and will not announce a replacement unless and until that effort fails."

In Cuba, top sports officials met late Wednesday to discuss the issue, but no statement was immediately issued.


Organizers had said the Cuban team likely would have included only players currently residing in Cuba and not defectors such as Jose Contreras, Orlando Hernandez and Livan Hernandez, who have become major league stars.


In the tournament schedule announced last week, Cuba was to play its three first-round games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, facing Panama on March 8, the Netherlands on March 9 and Puerto Rico the following day. If the Cubans advanced, they would also have played their second-round games in Puerto Rico.

"It is our policy that we do not confirm, deny or discuss licenses," Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Generally speaking, the Cuba embargo prohibits entering into contracts in which Cuba or Cuban nationals have an interest."

Rep. Jose Serrano, a New York Democrat, said Tuesday that he is circulating letters to be sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary John Snow asking that Cuba be allowed to play.

"Let's leave the politics out of this," Serrano said in a statement. "The World Baseball Classic should not be tainted by our grudge against Cuba's government. Cuba produces some of the finest baseball talent in the world and they deserve to participate."

At last week's news conference in Dallas announcing tournament plans, Orza sounded nearly certain about OFAC granting a permit.

"I do not think that is a serious impediment," Orza said, adding he was "very, very confident that the Cubans will play."

Updated on Thursday, Dec 15, 2005 12:33 am EST
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[dentskins]

Personally, I was surprised initially, but thought it was a racist move. Obvisiously, there is a lot of talent down there...why else would Cuba be banned????

 

[Sango]

Personally, I was surprised initially, but thought it was a racist move. Obvisiously, there is a lot of talent down there...why else would Cuba be banned????

How's it a racist move??

 

[RunawaySlave]

Because a high percentage of Cubans are as dark as the darkest
black man in the U.S.A. Take a look at the Cuban National team
and you'd think it was a team out of the old "Negro" Leagues
(until you hear them speak)


Saying it's because Cuba is a "communist" country is bullshit too
Politics doesn't stop them from allowing Chinese, Japanese and
South Americans players from playing. The only Cubans the U.S.
will allow to play are the ones who DEFECT from there and denounce
Castro....

Also, there are PLENTY of communists playing in the NBA. Half
the old Soviet Union countries have players representing them.

 

[Sango]

Thank you for that insight Runaway, I wasn't thinking that deep.
I was under the impression that is mainly a political move. I overheard that
they were going to be allowed to play, that upon appeal they (Cuba) will be reinstated. Anyone with any early predictions???

 

[Havoc]

Because a high percentage of Cubans are as dark as the darkest
black man in the U.S.A. Take a look at the Cuban National team
and you'd think it was a team out of the old "Negro" Leagues
(until you hear them speak)


Saying it's because Cuba is a "communist" country is bullshit too
Politics doesn't stop them from allowing Chinese, Japanese and
South Americans players from playing. The only Cubans the U.S.
will allow to play are the ones who DEFECT from there and denounce
Castro....

Also, there are PLENTY of communists playing in the NBA. Half
the old Soviet Union countries have players representing them.

I'm not saying that you're wrong, but I'd like to point out that China is a much more important country (politically) than Cuba, so the US probably won't consider bullying them. Doesn't Japan have a democracy? Isn't it the US's bitch?

Who feels that this is actually a necessary action? I mean, is the US taking the whole democracy thing too far or is it really because of (the impression I'm getting is skin color) what Runaway is saying?

 

[RunawaySlave]

The United States has held a vendetta against Fidel Castro
since he kicked out the CIA and mafia connection in the late
50's. Ever since then they have tried (in vain) to destroy
the Cuban (socialist) economy. Mainly to discredit that form
of government. Cuba was their little vacation spot, 88 miles
off the coast of Key West, Florida where the mafia and CIA
could fuck everything in site and hide their stolen loot
from the IRS...Castro broke their fucking hearts when he
organized a REVOLUTION against these bastards (some of
who are still very much in power today) and took over the
land....they have been trying to get back in ever since

You know how relentless these evil bastards are. They will
stop at nothing to get back their little den of criminal activity


China is a different matter. It's thousands of miles away from
the U.S.A. and it's so powerful, that there's nothing this gov't
could really do to stop it anyway. But that doesn't mean that
they'll give up. They have a saying, "If you can't BEAT them....
JOIN them". That's what the U.S. has done since the Nixon
adminsitration back in the early 70's. Before that, they were
just as much of an enemy as Cuba is today. Except that the
Cuban population is only 10 million, while there are 3 BILLION
Chinese. And they have the SAME scientific capabilities that
this country has. Meaning they can build just as many weapons
as the United States. So of course the president will kiss their
ass

 

[RunawaySlave]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>IBAF may pull plug on WBC</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>John Donovan, SI.com


Without Cuba, the World Baseball Classic, that highly charged and already highly politicized 16-team tournament scheduled for its debut in March, likely won't ever get to a "Play Ball!"

The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) is threatening to pull its sanctioning of Major League Baseball's brainchild if Cuba isn't allowed to participate. In a Jan. 3 fax from IBAF president Aldo Notari of Italy to MLB, the players union and others, Notari said that the federation would order its members out of the WBC if the U.S. government doesn't change course and lift its ban on the Cubans.

"Neither the principals of Olympism nor the rules of the International Baseball Federation permit any form of discrimination of a political nature," Notari wrote, "which is why the IBAF considers your government's refusal inadmissible."

Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department, citing a longstanding embargo of Cuba, informed MLB that it could not allow Cuba into a tournament in which the communist nation would have a financial interest. MLB and the players union are petitioning the Treasury Department to reverse the decision, and there are some indications that the Cubans would be willing to forfeit any money they'd earn as a participant in the event.

"We are extremely optimistic that Cuba will be allowed to participate," Paul Archey, the senior vice president of MLB International, said, "and we'll have the best tournament we can possibly have."
If the U.S. government doesn't allow Cuba to play, the WBC almost certainly would be dead for 2006. Without sanctioning from the IBAF, other teams would be forced to drop out or face being banned by the IBAF in upcoming international events.

Whatever happens, the issue has to be resolved soon. Sixty-man rosters for the participating teams will be submitted on Jan. 17, though that deadline probably can be moved.

The inaugural WBC, to be played at seven sites in Japan, Puerto Rico and the U.S., is scheduled to begin March 3. The final round is scheduled for March 18 and 20 at Petco Park in San Diego.

Updated on Friday, Jan 6, 2006 5:08 pm EST

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