Cuba has been famous for the success of its athletes in international competitions for decades. The small island nation has raised dozens of Olympic champions and world record holders. However, recently the ranks of the Cuban national teams are rapidly thinning …

Escapes from the national team of Cuba began in the middle of the last century, but recently the old trend suddenly intensified.

In 2022, 30 athletes have already left the country! The last high-profile case happened just with the former volleyball player of the Russian “Uralochka”.

The girl ran away from the team immediately after the defeat by the United States.

Coaches have imposed drastic measures

Latin American News reported that on the night of August 27, 21-year-old Yamisleidis Viltres Pacheco, the former blocker of Uralochka-NTMK Yekaterinburg, escaped from the Cuban volleyball team. The athlete left the location of the team that played at the Pan American Cup in Mexico. It happened immediately after the defeat of the Cubans from sworn rivals from the United States.

The departure of the young athlete was recorded by CCTV cameras, but where she is now and where she is going is unknown.

It is noteworthy that the day after the escape of Pacheco, who played in Russia for the last two seasons, the coaching staff of the Cuban national team forbade their volleyball players to use mobile phones.

Not the first time

In May of this year, the Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling Ismael Borrero escaped from the location of the Cuban national team, in July, athletes Yayme Perez and Yiselena Ballar deserted. Prior to this, the Cuban national team was left by long jumper Lester Lesky, Tokyo 2020 gold medalist in rowing Fernardo Jorge, as well as representatives of sailing Laura Manso and Miguel Exposito. And these are just the most notorious cases…

Cuba is known all over the world not only for its passionate spirit and magnificent resorts, but also for its terrible social problems. The country has been living under sanctions and a trade and economic blockade by the United States for decades, which has a tangible impact on the standard of living of ordinary citizens.

Athletes in Cuba face a range of additional challenges. The National Olympic Committee of the country takes a solid percentage of the money earned in competitions from athletes, even if we are talking about commercial tournaments.

The desire to find better conditions for earning and living among Cuban athletes outweighs patriotic feelings. The Cuban Sports Institute calls the escapes of athletes “a manifestation of low discipline in the country’s sports system,” promising to fight such cases. However, officials still fail to stop or even reduce the outflow of stars.