US permits MLB players to represent Cuba in World Baseball Classic
The United States has granted a license for Cuban MLB players to represent their country in the World Baseball Classic to be held next year.

At last, Cuba will be able to take players who are playing in Major League Baseball to the World Baseball Classic and defend the colors of the Caribbean island. .
“We have received a communication from the organizers of the Classic announcing that the license requested by them was granted so that the Cuba team can register Cuban athletes on its roster, whether they are from MLB or not, who have residence in the United States”, as reported by the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB).
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#Cuba podrá disponer de atletas MLB en el V Clásico Mundial de #Beisbol
— JIT Deporte Cubano (@jit_digital) December 24, 2022
El Gobierno de #EstadosUnidos ha emitido un permiso que no debiera existir. #BaseBall https://t.co/QY2Ol6sKlb pic.twitter.com/Muus1Tp7mR
Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, president of the FCB, recognized that the granting of the permit is “a positive step” and added that “it was the only fair solution to the issue”.
Confirmed participation with Cuba
So far, the Major League Baseball players who have already confirmed their presence in the Cuban team are Andy Ibáñez of the Detroit Tigers and Yoan López of the New York Mets.
En el momento CLAVE llegó el batazo MONUMENTAL. ¡YORDAN ÁLVAREZ! 🥵🙌#MLBCuba | #TBT pic.twitter.com/NF4zCVb9Qp
— MLB Cuba (@mlbcuba) December 23, 2022
Pardo also pointed out that Cuba is not only the founder of these competitions, but also earned its inclusion by qualifying like the rest of the 19 teams that will participate in the World Classic.
The competition will take place from March 8 to 21, 2023 in the cities of Taichung in Taiwan; Tokyo, Japan; and in Phoenix and Miami in the United States.
Último jonrón de Lourdes Gurriel Jr. con la camisa de los Blue Jays 💥#MLBCuba #OrgulloCubano #SwingCompleto pic.twitter.com/Og6XwL2dng
— Swing Completo LLC (@SwingCompletoBB) December 24, 2022