Moisés David Torres Puig, from Las Tunas and named the best goalkeeper in the 2024 National Championship, left the delegation.
14ymedio, Havana, July 24, 2026 / Field hockey goalkeeper Moisés David Torres Puig left the Cuban delegation participating in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo on Friday, just hours before the tournament’s official opening ceremony and without having played a single match.
The departure of the athlete, a native of Las Tunas and the youngest member of the men’s national team, was revealed by sports journalist Yasel Porto, who said he had received an audio message from the player himself and confirmed the case with sources close to the delegation.
According to Porto’s account, Torres Puig took advantage of the fact that the men’s team was at a stadium watching a match involving the women’s national team. The goalkeeper pretended to have been struck by a ball during training and asked for ice to treat the supposed injury. Shortly afterward, he said he was going to throw the ice into a container located in one of the facility’s hallways. Another person was waiting for him there, and the two exchanged clothes before Torres Puig walked out of the venue and left in a vehicle requested through the Uber app.
The account also reflects the strict surveillance that Cuban athletes are typically subjected to during their trips abroad
“I made the decision to stay here in the Dominican Republic and break all ties with the Cuban delegation,” the athlete says in the audio attributed to him, as quoted by DPorto Sports News. The account also reflects the strict surveillance that Cuban athletes are typically subjected to during their trips abroad, accompanied by coaches, officials, and other delegation “supervisors” who monitor their movements. “I was very nervous in case they discovered me,” Torres Puig confessed.
The young player was listed on the national team roster alongside Ignacio Miguel Aroche O’Farrill, the other goalkeeper called up for the competition. His departure leaves the team with only one available goalkeeper before its first match, scheduled during the tournament being held between late July and the first days of August.
His absence poses an additional problem for the coaching staff, which will have to compete throughout the tournament with only Aroche O’Farrill, unless the organizers allow a replacement to be added after the established deadline. No sports authority has yet clarified whether Cuba will request a replacement or whether Torres Puig has been formally removed from the accreditation list.
The young man was not a last-minute addition to the team. In April 2024, he was named the best goalkeeper at the National Field Hockey Championship held in Ciego de Ávila, where that province’s team retained the men’s title. His performance established him as one of the country’s most promising goalkeepers. He had also received special recognition from the sports authorities in Las Tunas for his achievements during 2023.
Just one week before leaving the country, the official press in Las Tunas had included his home among the so-called Central American Houses, a propaganda initiative through which provincial authorities identify the homes of athletes and coaches participating in international competitions. In Torres Puig’s case, the gesture became ironic: while the authorities were publicly celebrating his “sense of belonging,” the athlete was preparing his escape.
Every international trip continues to be, for many athletes, an opportunity to escape the Island
Field hockey has also suffered numerous defections. Five players left the Cuban delegation during the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, while other members of the national team had previously abandoned the squad during a stay in Spain.
In every case, the sports authorities have repeated their usual formula, describing the decisions as “serious acts of indiscipline” or abandonment of commitments, without referring to the low salaries, the lack of professional opportunities, and the restrictions athletes face on the Island, not to mention the crisis affecting the majority of the population.
Santo Domingo was supposed to serve the Cuban Government as a showcase for an ambitious delegation and help stem the decline in its regional results. However, every international trip continues to be, for many athletes, an opportunity to escape the Island.
Translated by Regina Anavy
______________________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.