Eight members of Cuba’s World Baseball Classic traveling party have been denied entry into the United States, The Athletic reported.
The denied parties do not include any of the players on Team Cuba, which expects to be fully intact at 30-strong for this month’s tournament event.
Those affected include president of the Cuban baseball and softball federation Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, secretary general Carlos del Pino Muñoz and pitching coach Pedro Luis Lazo Iglesias, according to a statement released by the Cuban baseball federation.
The World Baseball Classic, a 20-team tournament partially sponsored by Major League Baseball, is scheduled for March 5-17, with pool play taking place in Miami, Houston, San Juan and Tokyo.
The visas were denied due to Section 243(d) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, which singles out countries the Trump administration believes to be slow in compliance with immigration issues.
“Citing Section 243(d) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act as the reason disrespects the essence of sport and the inherent responsibility of its participants and places our delegation at a clear disadvantage,” the federation wrote in a statement. “It is false that Cuba does not cooperate with the United States on immigration matters.”
Team Cuba had been scheduled to head for Phoenix for pre-tournament training this weekend. The club has an exhibition against the Kansas City Royals on the calendar for Tuesday and another against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
