Images and a video show the deterioration of the Eide Ormani Arenado, the Manuel Fajardo Faculty of Physical Culture and the 19 de Noviembre Multipurpose Hall.
14ymedio, Havana, 4 July 2025 — The foundation of Cuban sports is falling apart. Athletes, coaches, circus artists and users denounced on social networks the abandonment of the Ormani Arenado School of Sports Initiation (Eide), the November 19 Multipurpose Room (both in Pinar del Río) and the Manuel Fajardo Faculty of Physical Culture (Santa Clara).
They have had to remove pieces of rotten wood from the floor of the Eide Ormani Arenado, which looks like a minefield. One of the revolutionary emblems inaugurated in 1963 inside the Athenaeum is in ruins. “Seeing it like this causes immense pain,” lamented US-based Cuban boxer Yuniesky González, who shared the image of the facility. “Wow! I had to see it to believe it. How we ran around on that floor! How many of us went through there?”
Adriana Lazaga, a teacher of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder), recognized that the 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.”
The boxer’s post generated comments from athletes who visited his site. “In 1990 that part of the gym was flawless, but now it is unattended,” recalled Noel Tapia Morales, who practiced wrestling.
Circus artist Yandisley Leal commented that the deterioration of the facilities in the Eide Ormani Arenado “is not even half the conditions we had before, and they were bad.” The member of the German company Circus Probst, Osmaikel Otaño, mentioned that in a decade the gym has “fallen into pieces.”
The investment seems insufficient. In June 2024, the vice president of Inder, Omar Venegas Echemendía, spoke about new developments for the sports infrastructure in Pinar del Río. As part of the advancement of 65×60=Fidel Program, the official highlighted two new dormitories for the more than 400 athletes participating in the National School and Youth Games, concluded this Friday.
Venegas praised “the tangible repair work on the floor for artistic gymnastics, the wrestling mattress and the baseball field, which have received a transformation,” according to the official media Guerrillero.
However, the alleged improvements to the floor are not noticeable. During the selection of the artistic gymnastics team held on June 15 at Ormani Arenado headquarters, the lack of wood and paint in some places and the worn implements that athletes deal with every day are evident.
Handball coach Iván Roger Pérez Díaz said that the abandonment in the Eide is minimal compared to the deterioration of the infrastructure in the November 19 Multipurpose. “Don’t be surprised,” he warned.
Last year the sports authorities expanded the floor repair to the hallway, in addition to the judo tatami mats and surrounding areas. Work also continued on restoring the asphalt covering on the roof, which was torn away by Hurricane Ian.
In August 2023, the sports management told the official newspaper Granma that the waterproofing of the Multipurpose Hall 19 of November was “highly expensive,” despite the fact that at that time there was a donation of $15,000 from the Cuban Volleyball Federation and another 3,000,000 pesos allocated by the Provincial Defense Council after the passage of Hurricane Ian.
The waterproofing work continued but was a failure. Last March, Cubadebate reported that a few months after the work was completed, “the leaks persist.”
The main investor of the Provincial Direction of Sports, Luis Ricardo Ferreiro, said that the work “is poorly done in every way,” and, in addition, “the asphalt they used was expired.”
The specialist explained that the asphalt used for waterproofing has a type of small pebble that melts together with the rest of the material when steam is applied. “We have picked it up with shovels and sacks; it has obstructed the gutters up there. This means that it did not meet the required quality.”
Pinar del Río is the birthplace of champions. Mijain López, Marlenis Costa, Omar Linares, Pedro Luis Lazo, Yarisley and Idalys all come from there, promoted by Tele Pinar in 2022. At that time it warned that “for decades, in the midst of the difficult economic context of the country, the policy of the government and of Sports in Pinar del Río has been aimed at rescuing sports facilities to maintain results.”
The Faculty of the Manuel Fajardo Physical Culture (Santa Clara) is also abandoned. Ariel Martínez shared on Facebook a photo of the facade and the reactions from Internet users. Professor Maritza Aguila was sorry to see the center where she worked for 30 years in ruins.
Josefa Pons recalled that she started in 1976, “when it was inaugurated. It was a beautiful school, really a wonder. What a stage! There was everything.” She said that back then the place “had comforts, a culture and education. I was fourteen years old and enjoyed it very much. What I liked was modern gymnastics.”
From that time of glory only memories remain. The reality was shown in a video by Gabriel Nodarse. In the small area where football and basketball were played, only piles of rusty wood and iron remain, just like the judo area.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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