14ymedio, Havana, 17 June 2022 — The players Alfredo Fadraga and Yosvani Ávalos, who 24 hours earlier had abandoned the Cuban team that plays in Mexico in the Pan American Under-23, were “arrested by the authorities” of the state of Aguascalientes and returned to their hotel. According to journalist Francys Romero, they have already been “transferred to an airport in Mexico to be returned” to the Island.
“They will have to face a terrible reality upon returning to Cuba,” he warned. “This is a fundamental decision that both not try to leave again until the team finishes the competition on June 19.”
Sources revealed to the journalist that Fadraga and Ávalos “did not return of their own free will.” The information, says the informant, was shared with him around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday night. A whistleblower disclosed their location, and they were arrested.
“They were in the house of a relative,” according to Romero, who has the most reliable version. “Someone called the police and they were arrested,” he said in a video uploaded to his social networks.
After the alleged return was reported, “this type of news seemed more fiction than reality,” Romero said. For José Alejandro Rodríguez Zas, a reporter for SwingCompleto, several questions arose: “They returned of their own free will? Any regret? What about the authorities?”
The Cuban Baseball Federation, which confirmed the escape of the players by “incurring reprehensible acts,” has not offered a position on the return of Fadraga and Ávalos to the Ramada hotel where the team is staying.
The abandonment of these athletes was confirmed in the early hours of Thursday. Rodríguez Zas reported that the escape occurred by taking advantage of the rest day of the national team, although he couldn’t give more details “at the express request of sources.”
This Friday, Francys Romero revealed that the athletes “jumped over the hotel fence,” unfortunately were arrested, and “it ended badly for them.” He also recalled that the members of the team don’t have access to their documents.
“If they return to Cuba,” the journalist said, “they will surely face sanctions for years or for life. There are people who believe that they could face criminal charges; I’m not really sure about this.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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