Baseball: US says no to Cubas WBC team

the US government has denied permits for the Cuban to come here to participate in the World Baseball Champonships.

Organizers will work to have the decision reversed, said Paul Archey, the senior vice president of Major League Baseball International, and Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

A permit from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control is necessary because of U.S. laws governing certain commercial transactions with the Fidel Castro-controlled nation

what a shame, Cuba has some great ballplayers at it will not be a true World Championship without them, i thought that when the foolish Olympic boycotts ended it would have been the end of politics in sports

sports.yahoo.com...;_ylt=AhP0QdtQV.9Yp439f6Cuo4Y5nYcB?slug=ap-classic-cubadenied&prov=ap&type=lgns

It's a real shame. They're duping all Cubans, and the tournament by doing this. It's like wanting to throw Brazil out of world cup soccer. They're either being selfish, or they don't know what they're doing.

The Treasury Department has reconsidered the ruling, and will now allow Cuba to play in the USA -

sports.espn.go.com...

Could this all be Hype?

I'm thinking that's what it is. There was no reason for them to not allow the team to play in the first place, when the Cuban National team has previously played on US soil.

The only thing I can think of is a mass defection of Cubans to the US. But I can't see anyone in the US complaining about that. Remember the Russian hockey players in the late 80's early 90's defecting as soon as they left the country. But it's a different age now.