The Cuban Drama

LATEST UPATE: Simon, Leal, Hierrezuelo, Cleger and Sanchez are all behind bars after the shocking incident last weekend.

This news breaks our hearts!

We really hope that the problem will be resolved and these great athletes can play again on the National Team. At this point, we doubt they’d be given another chance.

Sad.

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A report has surfaced that the main reason why Simon, Leal and Hierrezuelo were dropped the team was because police discovered their plan to escape/ defect Cuba during the World League. They will be or have been questioned by authorities.

Rachel Sanchez and Ana Cleger from the women’s team have also been arrested for the same reason.

On the other hand, Raul Diago was removed from his position as the President of the Cuban Volley Federation due to corruption, ie he kept some awards from the World Championship.

This is getting serious!

Sad.

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Over the weekend, one shocking news from Cuba made us go “Are they serious?”.

In case you didn’t know, Robertlandy Simon, Joandry Leal, setter Hierrezuelo and Mesa will not play at the 2011 World League due to conflict and injury. Click THIS to read more.

First of all, we hate posting “unofficial” reports and rumors. Since Cuba only provides limited information about the current situation of these athletes, we had to do our own research and put the pieces together.

The Story…

According to our sources, Raul Diago, a former Cuban setter and Simon‘s current manager, sent a proposal to the government to allow Simon and some Cuban players to play abroad for exposure and maybe for extra dinero. The Cuban officials rejected Diago’s idea and consequently terminated him from his job as the president of the Cuban Volley Federation

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Diago’s dismissal did not please Simon and so he decided to leave the team. As soon as Leal found out about Simon’s decision, the outside hitter immediately quit.

The Cuban roster released a few weeks ago did include Leal with Simon as the captain. When the roster was recently cut to 20 players, Leal didn’t make the team and 18-year-old Wilfredo Leon became the new captain.

The talented left-handed setter, Hierrezuelo, injured his wrist. At the same time he’s frustrated with the drama and decided to stop training for more than a month. The press release on Hierrezuelo stated that he was “out of shape.”

We don’t know much about Mesa, a silver medalist from the 2010 World Champs, so we’d leave him alone.

The latest news is that the Cuban team is heading to Bulgaria today to start their 2011 World League preparations.

So what now?

We’ve found out that Leal, Simon and Hierrezuelo have received offers to play in Poland. In case this report is true, then it’s not going to be easy for these athletes and for their future club teams.

For example, if Leal decides to defect (we don’t know how he’d do it) and stay in Poland, the FIVB will suspend Leal for two years.

During this period, Leal cannot play for any team at all. He is pretty much untouchable as in “You Can’t Hire Me!” Any club team who chooses to break the FIVB rule gets penalized and might jeopardize Leal’s future. It’s going to be a tough two years for Leal because no team means no income.

If these great athletes plan on doing something like this, then it’s going to be a very challenging journey. It’s a very risky decision at this point so we really hope they’ve thought about it over and over and over and over again.

As far as we know, the players who are traveling to Europe for the World League are heavily guarded to make sure that none of them gets to escape just like what Marshall and 5 others did 10 years ago. Remember?

The government is also keeping an eye on Leal, Simon and Hierrezuelo.

Why can’t Cubans play abroad?

The government believes that when Cubans send their players abroad, the players are more interested to play for money. When they rejoin the team, their performance changes. Since they don’t get paid to play their best, they are not as motivated while playing with the National Team.

Since the Cubans are very athletic and will surely be starting for their club teams, the government is concerned about the increased risk for injuries that will affect the players’ chances of competing for the National Team.

As far as we know (we could be wrong), the government takes at least 80% of any cash prize or income a Cuban player receives or makes while playing in international tourneys or playing abroad.

The Return of Juantorena?

There’s a rumor that Os Juantorena has been offered a spot to play for the National Team again.

Knowing how talented he is, Os can make a difference in the absence of the other 3. Imagine though if Osmany, Simon, Leal and Hierrezuelo play together. Watch out Brazil!

Out of all the Cuban volleyball players who have defected, Os did it in the most legit manner. He moved to Russia in 2004, moved to Italy in 2006 and then inked a deal with Trentino, the most decorated club team in the wold. Os still maintains a dual passport which allows him to visit Cuba whenever he wants to.

As of press time, Os has stated that if he’d ever go to the Olympics it would have to be with Cuba.

There is a chance indeed.

Click THIS to read more about Juantorena’s rumored return.

Our thoughts…

We can’t picture a competitive Cuban team without Simon (one of the world’s best blockers and best spikers), without the talented Leal, or without the great Hierrezuelo. But we can picture a Cuban team with the great Juantorena.

Politics is politics. We’re not familiar how Cuba runs as a government, but we know when it comes to giving their talented athletes the chance to shine in professional leagues abroad, they don’t allow it.

We respect their policy but at the same time as fans we wish these players get a chance to play outside their borders.

It’s very complicated; at this point, we only hope that both parties will make the best and smartest decisions for the sake of their players and for their national teams.

THOUGHTS?

(images: fivb.org/ trentinovolley.it/ news.cn)