HAVANA, Cuba — The Cuban girls’s nationwide volleyball staff was denied an opportunity to play in a event in Puerto Rico following the brand new visa restrictions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Cuban Volleyball Federation stated final week that the staff, comprising 12 athletes, a referee and a number of other coaches, had their visa request denied and will probably be unable to attend the event later this month.
“The frustration is big as a result of I practice day by day, each hour of coaching is main as much as this and dedicate myself to it,” nationwide staff participant Laura Suarez advised The Related Press. “It is actually disappointing not to have the ability to take part within the competitors, which is what I have been getting ready myself for.
Cuba was scheduled to play within the NORCECA Ladies’s Closing 4 event in Manatí, Puerto Rico. The event consists of Puerto Rico, Mexico and Costa Rica and it awards rating factors towards qualification for the Volleyball Nations League.
“We have been targeted on the competitors as a result of it is proper there,” stated Dayana Martínez, one other participant. “Arriving on the embassy and being denied the visa impacts us loads as a result of that competitors offers us factors to enhance our rating,”
The Cuban staff’s coach, Wilfredo Robinson, stated the choice means his staff is prone to miss out on the Nations League.
“The competitors grants factors for every match and on the finish all of it provides up,” Robinson stated. “In September, we now have one other event and if we get there needing to realize 80 or 100 factors we’re not going to have the ability to do it.”
The USA added Cuba to a listing of 12 international locations with restrictions for coming into the U.S. or its territories, efficient from early June. It consists of nationals from Afghanistan, the Republic of Congo, Iran, Venezuela and different nations.
“Denial of visas is a part of a racist and xenophobic listing of visa restrictions,” Cuban international minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on his X account.
In a message despatched to The Related Press, the U.S. Embassy in Cuba acknowledged that, based on its privateness insurance policies, it couldn’t touch upon particular circumstances however that directives have been being applied to safe the borders and shield U.S. communities and residents.
The Cuban girls’s nationwide staff gained back-to-back world championships in 1994 and 1998. It additionally gained three Olympic golds in a row in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.
The U.S. measures are prone to impression many extra Cuban athletes who depend upon worldwide competitions, together with some on American soil to qualify for main championships and the subsequent Olympics scheduled to be performed in Los Angeles in 2028.
