The woman accused INDER of neglecting the children after they participated in events by not covering the cost of tickets and transport.
14ymedio, Havana, August 6, 2025 — The National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) on the Isle of Youth abandoned a group of canoeists aged 13 to 15 at the Santa Clara train terminal after they participated in the National School Games. Arianny, one of the mothers of these athletes, reported that they went “more than 20 hours without food or water.”
The woman reported on the Dporto Sports LLC Facebook page that the children on the canoeing team, the flagship sport of the municipality, slept on the floor “for lack of management on the part of INDER.”
The group ended their participation on July 31, but because they did not have transport for their return, their only option was to wait for the train that would pass around two o’clock in the morning. Faced with the claims of some parents, an INDER official promised them that after the event, “when they arrive at the transit school of Mayabeque more than 300 kilometers away, they can eat and rest.”
The woman also denounced the shortcomings of INDER on the Isle of Youth. The athletes do not have a K4 canoe to compete. “INDER has not wanted to buy from a private company that makes them in Villa Clara,” she said. Neglect has led the canoeing team to be unable to participate in events. The authorities do not manage the “transport to move the canoes (in a truck rented by INDER) nor a bus that can take them, in addition to the tickets.”
The woman also denounced the shortcomings of INDER on the Isle of Youth. The athletes do not have a K4 canoe to compete.
The complainant regretted that the sports development of children is not in the interest of INDER. “The principal does not pick up the phone” to meet the training needs in schools.
“The effort of coaches and parents is overshadowed by the lack of support and resources from INDER, which creates a disconnect between sacrifice and institutional abandonment,” denounced activist Yamilka Lafita. “Why organize sporting events if the minimum conditions for athletes are not guaranteed, not even when they are children?”
The activist questioned INDER for “hiring high-level foreign coaches, such as the Brazilian Luiz Omar Moura (whom I know perfectly well),” when “they should prioritize the basic well-being of their own athletes.”
Athletes, coaches, circus artists and users denounced on social networks the abandonment by the Ormani Arenado School of Sports Initiation School (EIDE), the ’19 NovemberMultipurpose Room’ (both in Pinar del Río) and the ’Manuel Fajardo Faculty of Physical Culture’ (Santa Clara).
The teacher of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation, Adriana Lazaga, recognized that EIDE has been forgotten for years. “Nobody cares about sports anymore, let alone the well-being of our athletes. When I entered in 1997, at the height of the Special Period, it was 100 times better than now, 28 years later.”
Translated by Regina Anavy