The Cuban baseball federation responded by stating it would donate proceeds from the games to those displaced from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Venezuela’s baseball federation has offered to host the games as an alternative to Puerto Rico, to ensure Cuba’s participation. Puerto Rico’s baseball federation announced its withdrawal from hosting the games to protest the U.S. government’s exclusion of the Cuban players.

International Baseball Federation (IBF) president Aldo Notari, of Italy, said that IBF backing for the games is based on the Olympic charter principles, which prohibit discrimination against a country on grounds of politics, reported the Toronto Sun. The IBF’s stance has put the games in doubt as member countries are expected to not participate if Cuba is excluded or face being banned themselves from future IBF-sanctioned competitions.

The games, billed as the first-ever World Baseball Classic, are an 18-day tournament featuring 16 teams of mostly professional players from North and South America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Africa. They are to be played March 3-20 in Japan, Puerto Rico, and three U.S. states—Arizona, California, and Florida.

MLB officials have expressed disappointment at the U.S. government’s decision and have reapplied for a license to include Cuba in the games, reported the Miami Herald. Cuba is the reigning Olympic and World Cup champion in baseball. Cuban baseball teams have won 25 of the 36 World Cup tournaments since the games began in 1938.
 
 
Related articles:
‘La Gaceta’ takes up fight against racism in Cuba
How Cuba’s support for Angola’s liberation struggle began
The role of women in Cuba’s revolutionary army  
 
 
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