The regime’s decision to encourage relations with South Korea in all areas also reaches sports and, in this sense, the president of the Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation (FCBS), Juan Reynaldo Pérez Pardo, recently visited the Asian country and exchanged with the directors of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO, for its acronym in English), reported the specialized media HITattached to the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER).
The Cuban official told HIT that, during his visit, discussed a possible preparation base there, in mid-October, for the pre-selection of the Island that will participate in the Premier 12 tournament.
“Also We talked about the possibility of holding three or four friendly matches against clubs that participate in the so-called talent league, and against the Korean national team, scheduled for the first two days of November, which would prepare our team,” Pérez Pardo commented.
If this pre-agreement between the federations is finalized, the manager explained that the Cuban preselection would be reaching South Korea October 20 and would leave on November 3 for Taipei, China, to face the first segment of the fight.
At the meeting, both parties also discussed the possibility of “future contracts of Cuban players with KBO League teamsa step to which the matches themselves prior to the Premier 12 could contribute, which will give greater visibility to the main figures of the Island.”
Despite the bilateral interest, Pérez Pardo stressed that “it is a limited process, because only 10 teams participate in the tournament with only three places destined for foreigners.” For that reason, he considered it “very positive” the interest of some clubs to send their scout to Havana.
“The idea is that they attend a tryout that we intend to organize at the end of September, so that they can see the development of our young players and return with a clearer idea about possible contracts“he added.
In addition to his visit to South Korea, the Cuban official also arrived in Japan, with the objective of “strengthen our ties with Japanese baseball and review with the clubs their relationships with the cuban federationincluding the improvement of contracting mechanisms,” he declared.
There, in addition to meeting with Cuban baseball players participating in the national league, Pérez Pardo sought, when exchanging with local authorities, “possible friendly matches, exchanges in the field of baseball5 and participation of specialists from Japanese clubs in the tryout of Havana”.
Cuban baseball has been experiencing, for several years, one of its most severe crises, as a consequence of the economic crisis on the Island and the exodus of baseball players. As a result of this, the team Cuba was once again left out of the Caribbean Baseball Serieswhose participants for the 2025 edition were recently announced.
“Crises occur when the new has not just been born and the old has not just died. Other structures have to come in Cuban baseball“said Juan Francisco Puello, commissioner of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CPBC) in 2023, in an interview on Cuban television that was very little broadcast on the Island.
“Until Cuba resolves its economic aspect, which has to do with its professional league, we are going to have problems for it to be a member, and I am telling you very clearly,” he stated on that occasion.
