At least nine young Cuban baseball players have defected during a tournament in Mexico, officials say, in the largest defection of Cuban athletes in years. Cuban officials called the players' actions during the World Cup for athletes under the age of 23 "vile abandonments." A statement by Cuba's National Sports Institute, published on the official JIT website and quoted by the Associated Press news agency, did not name the players who had stayed in Mexico. Baseball journalist Francys Romero said a total of 12 players had defected.
The rest of the team, which originally had 24 players, will return to Cuba on Monday. Cuba is in the midst of an economic crisis, with food and medicine
shortages, and has been hit hard by U.S. sanctions and COVID-19. In July,
thousands of people joined the biggest anti-government protests in the
island for decades.
Cuban athletes have a long history of defecting while competing abroad. Baseball players often leave to sign up with Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs in the US, as strained relations between the U.S. and Cuba prevent them from taking part in a regular hiring process.
A deal that allowed some Cuban players to sign with MLB clubs was cancelled by President Donald Trump in 2018, in an attempt to pressure the island's Communist government to implement political changes. The agreement meant athletes no longer had to abscond and leave Cuba illegally.
The most recent high-profile player to defect was 22-year-old César Prieto, one of the country's top baseball stars, who abandoned the team earlier this year while in Florida for an Olympics qualifying event. Ballet dancers and footballers are also among athletes who have fled during major competitions.
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