W
wyliepoon
Guest
From CBC Sports:
Link to article
Venezuela proposes pro-Cuba changes to World Baseball Classic
WebPosted Wed, 28 Dec 2005 16:56:43 EST
CBC Sports
Could the final of the World Baseball Classic be played in Toronto? It could if a proposal by Venezuela is implemented.
The South American nation wants to keep Cuba in the first inaugural international baseball championship. It proposes to host part of next year's event and change the locale of the final to Canada, so that communist-led Cuba wouldn't have to be banned from the tournament. The U.S. banned Cuba on Dec. 14.
The U.S. is a tournament host nation, along with Puerto Rico and Japan. Cuba is banned from playing on American soil. Since Cuba was to contest its first round games in Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth, it is blocked from participating.
Venezuela is against the ban and hopes to work around it.
"We hope that the United States' government changes its position," Edwin Zerpa, president of the government-run Venezuelan Baseball Federation, said Wednesday. "But, if not, we propose that Group C play in Caracas. We don't approve of Cuba's exclusion."
Zerpa said that only teams in Group C – Olympic champion Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands and Panama – would be invited to play in Venezuela, with the final in Canada.
The 16-team tournament will run from March 3-20, with the semifinals and final scheduled for San Diego.
The U.S. reasons that Cuba cannot play because it worries that Fidel Castro's government could gain financially from the experience.
The Cuban Baseball Federation counters that assertion, saying it would donate any money earned by the national team to hurricane Katrina victims.
Major League Baseball and its union – the tournament organizers – reapplied on Cuba's behalf to the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. OFAC's permission is required under U.S. regulations governing transactions with Cuba, which has been under an American trade and financial embargo for more than four decades.
Venezuela plays in the first round in Group D in Kissimmee, Fla., with Australia, Italy and the Dominican Republic. Canada plays in Group B in Arizona with the United States, Mexico and South Africa.
Venezuela is considered among the elite teams with a lineup likely fronted by all-stars Miguel Cabrera of the Florida Marlins and Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies. Its pitchers should include former American League Cy Young winner Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins and Freddy Garcia of the White Sox. Venezuela is managed by New York Yankees coach Luis Sojo.
with files from Associated Press
Link to article
Venezuela proposes pro-Cuba changes to World Baseball Classic
WebPosted Wed, 28 Dec 2005 16:56:43 EST
CBC Sports
Could the final of the World Baseball Classic be played in Toronto? It could if a proposal by Venezuela is implemented.
The South American nation wants to keep Cuba in the first inaugural international baseball championship. It proposes to host part of next year's event and change the locale of the final to Canada, so that communist-led Cuba wouldn't have to be banned from the tournament. The U.S. banned Cuba on Dec. 14.
The U.S. is a tournament host nation, along with Puerto Rico and Japan. Cuba is banned from playing on American soil. Since Cuba was to contest its first round games in Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth, it is blocked from participating.
Venezuela is against the ban and hopes to work around it.
"We hope that the United States' government changes its position," Edwin Zerpa, president of the government-run Venezuelan Baseball Federation, said Wednesday. "But, if not, we propose that Group C play in Caracas. We don't approve of Cuba's exclusion."
Zerpa said that only teams in Group C – Olympic champion Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands and Panama – would be invited to play in Venezuela, with the final in Canada.
The 16-team tournament will run from March 3-20, with the semifinals and final scheduled for San Diego.
The U.S. reasons that Cuba cannot play because it worries that Fidel Castro's government could gain financially from the experience.
The Cuban Baseball Federation counters that assertion, saying it would donate any money earned by the national team to hurricane Katrina victims.
Major League Baseball and its union – the tournament organizers – reapplied on Cuba's behalf to the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. OFAC's permission is required under U.S. regulations governing transactions with Cuba, which has been under an American trade and financial embargo for more than four decades.
Venezuela plays in the first round in Group D in Kissimmee, Fla., with Australia, Italy and the Dominican Republic. Canada plays in Group B in Arizona with the United States, Mexico and South Africa.
Venezuela is considered among the elite teams with a lineup likely fronted by all-stars Miguel Cabrera of the Florida Marlins and Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies. Its pitchers should include former American League Cy Young winner Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins and Freddy Garcia of the White Sox. Venezuela is managed by New York Yankees coach Luis Sojo.
with files from Associated Press