Three Cuban Hockey Players Leave National Team in Spain: ‘INDER Makes Us Go Hungry’
Three Cuban hockey players left the national team while participating in a training camp in Barcelona, Spain, according to a Facebook post by sports journalist Francys Romero.
Romero reported that Yadira Miclin, Marianela López, and Daylin Suárez Pérez left the training camp in Barcelona in the last few hours. He noted that the team is touring Europe as part of its preparation for the 2023 Central American Games in San Salvador.
The journalist highlighted that over 75 Cuban athletes from more than ten disciplines have left official representations between 2022 and 2023, and the number is expected to increase. He clarified that this does not include those who have taken other paths, such as sports leave, retirement, or legal or illegal routes.
Daylin Suárez Pérez, one of the athletes who decided to stay in Spain, explained that she did so due to the conditions imposed by the Cuban INDER, which forces them to go hungry and cook with firewood, in addition to receiving meager pay. The young woman shared photos of herself cooking with firewood and alongside broken sneakers, denouncing the conditions she lived in on the island.
Suárez Pérez also expressed her love for Cuba but questioned who loved her back, accompanying her words with an image of four hockey players next to an improvised stove made from pieces of wood.
The Cuban women’s hockey team, from which the young players withdrew, debuted on Monday with a 5-0 victory against club Línea 22 HC. The training camp in Spain will continue until May 11, according to the official Jit website.
Alex Hernández Gómez, director of the Antonio Maceo National Field Hockey School and president of the National Federation of the discipline, stressed the importance of making the most of the training sessions and matches in Spain, as well as his commitment to maintaining dominance in San Salvador 2023.
The Jit report praised the performance of the most outstanding athletes in the match but did not mention the withdrawal of the three players.
In November 2022, Francys Romero reported that three other hockey players and a coach severed ties with INDER, deciding not to return to Cuba after completing their contracts in Mexico.
