Once again, outside Cuba

By Osmany Sanchez

From La Joven Cuba (The Young Cuba)

The news hit us like a hammer: again this year, Cuba will not play its World Volleyball League games at Ciudad Deportiva – Sports City. As explained by Eugenio George, president of the Cuban federation: “The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB for its French acronym) approved this move […] due to the impossibility of guaranteeing an air-conditioned environment at Sports City in Havana, a requirement demanded by the tournament’s regulations.”

Volleyball is unquestionably one of the sports most watched by our people and Sports City is one of the venues that always excels in terms of the number of spectators and their discipline. It is also one of the sports hardest hit by the defection of players.

I firmly believe in the need to place Cuban athletes, not only volleyball players, in other leagues. I have broached this subject on other occasions. The athletes are formed by the Revolution but so are the artists, and the latter fulfill contracts abroad for months or years without disconnecting themselves from their homeland. The recently approved [Socio-economic] Guidelines include the possibility that professionals be hired by foreign companies. What makes the athletes any different?

Those of us who love sports constantly suffer when athletes decide to play outside Cuba, which then prevents them from being part of their national team. In some cases, the national press does not broach the topic with objectivity, as in the cases of Robertlandy Simón and Yoandy Leal, who two years ago did not join the national team for various reasons. Simón because he “requested a period of rest” and Leal because he “didn’t play in the National League and had problems with his training and with his attendance at workouts.” Where are they now?

Did they rest and study? We’ll find out only by “listening to the grapevine.”

During the broadcasts of many events (Olympiads, Pan-American Games, World Championships) we hear our sports commentators tell us proudly about the efforts made by the nation to bring to our homes the Cubans’ performances. However, they don’t say a word if an event of national importance, played in our country, is not broadcast.

A few minutes ago, a journalism student told me with some annoyance that he didn’t understand why television was not showing the finals of the Basketball Top League, one of the nation’s most popular events. Last week, while the first game was being played, TeleRebelde (“Cuba’s sports channel”) showed a foreign soccer game.

It is not the only case or an isolated case. The only time we can see our judokas or wrestlers is in an Olympiad or a Pan-American Game (not even in a world tournament), while every year important international events are held in Cuba, such as the José Ramón Rodríguez tourney (male judo), Judoguis Dorados (female judo), Cerro Pelado (free-style wrestling) and Granma (Greco-Roman wrestling.)

We hear about these events on radio and TV sports programs, where they tell us how interesting some of the matches were or how spectacular some of the bouts were.
Are many resources needed to broadcast those events that are played in Cuba?

The government has many unfulfilled tasks involving Cuban sports and none of them involves harming our social system. If polls were done among the population – as was done with the Guidelines – I’m sure that a huge majority would approve the orderly placement of our athletes abroad and still permit them to join our national teams.

The authorities also would have to understand that tickets to an important event, such as the World League, should not be priced at 1 peso but at, say, 5 pesos. If we consider that Sports City holds 12,000 spectators, we’d be collecting 60,000 pesos at each game. That money could be put back into the facility’s maintenance.

One of the listeners of the program “Sportively,” broadcast every night by Radio Rebelde, said that what Cuba needs is a baseball Congress. In my opinion, rather than a baseball Congress, we need to take the decisions involving sports in general to the grassroots level, and ask the people to make the decisions. Popular wisdom will ensure that the best solutions are found.

Original: http://lajovencuba.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/otra-vez-fuera-de-cuba/#more-5780