Cuba Plans to Return to the Nucleus of Caribbean and World Baseball

"We have asked to be members of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CPBC) as demanded by Cuban baseball fans and the government and therefore Cuba needs have the right conditions to organize classic baseball tournaments." Velez told Prensa Latina.

This is one of the main reasons for the re-structuring and remodeling of the Latin American Stadium in the Cuban capital, which will host a friendly match between the MLB team Tampa Day Devil Rays (American League) and the Cuban national team on the 22nd of March.

Former MLB Cuban-born players, Luis Tiant (former pitcher) and Jose Cardenal (former outfielder), together with New York Yankees retired captain Derek Jeter (US), will come to Cuba as part of the match.

"We will not only raise the level of the Cuban sport, but we will honor the quality and history of our baseball by becoming a new venue for events of the highest quality and also the Caribbean Baseball Series," said Velez after an appearance before local and international press media at the Latin American Stadium.

"To achieve this goal, it is indispensable to have a stadium that meets the current technical requirements," he added.

The Latin American Stadium was built in 1946. It is the biggest baseball stadium in Cuba and was the site of the Caribbean Baseball Series in 1949, and several series of the extinct World Baseball Cup.

Although relations between the USA and Cuba have improved, it was still to early to say what impact this would have on the relationship between between the US MLB and the Cuban FCB, he added.

"We will wait. Meetings, agreements, negotiations, will come through. We want to take part in the process of introducing Cuban baseball players in the MLB in a legal and safe manner," Velez concluded.