The Cuban Baseball Federation confirmed Wednesday night that one of the players on the national team defected a few hours after the squad arrived in Florida to participate in a qualifying tournament for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The permits were finally delivered Tuesday under a special effort made by the U.S. Embassy in Havana. Eight nations — Cuba, the United States, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Colombia and Canada — will be battling for one spot in the six-team Tokyo Olympic baseball tournament. The tournament runs from May 31 to June 5 in West Palm Beach and Port St. Lucie, but exhibition matches are scheduled before that. With three gold and two silver medals, Cuba has dominated Olympic baseball.

Source: Fox News May 27, 2021 03:45 UTC