Not good news for anybody.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/sports/baseball/15cuba.html 

December 15, 2005
United States Says No to Cuba's Bid to Play
By MURRAY CHASS

The United States Treasury Department has thrown the first curve at the World Baseball Classic.

 

The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control notified Major League Baseball on Tuesday that Cuba would not be allowed to have a team in the inaugural classic, which is scheduled to be played in March.

 

"We just received notice yesterday," Paul Archey, senior vice president for international baseball matters, said last night. "We're obviously disappointed in the decision, but we're going to continue to look into it and see what we need to do to have it changed, if at all."

 

Officials involved in the planning of the world tournament said the reason for keeping Cuba out was unclear, but it appeared to be linked to the possibility that if the tournament made a profit, the Cuban team could take American dollars home to its island, which is what the Cuban embargo is meant to prevent.

 

For the full story, click on the above link.

 

Other links:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/051214cubawbc.html 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13406558.htm 

http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/wbc/article.jsp?content=121405_a 

 

Rod Nelson