Spanish
San Juan.- The president of the Puerto Rico Baseball Federation, José Quiles, said this Saturday that they are considering withdrawing the team from the 2026 World Baseball Classic, after several star players did not receive permission to participate in the tournament.
The World Baseball Classic will be held from March 5 to 17 and the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan will be the venue for the Group A games, made up of Puerto Rico, Canada, Colombia, Cuba and Panama. "We'll see what happens in these days, but the decision is almost made, that Puerto Rico may not participate in the Classic," underlined the president of the Federation in an interview with the journalist Jay Fonseca. The last one added to the list of casualties was shortstop Francisco Lindor, who was out of the event due to insurance restrictions after undergoing a cleaning procedure on his right elbow. Other players from the so-called 'Team Rubio' who have been denied permission to participate in the Classic are Carlos Correa, Jovani Morán, Emilio Pagán, Alexis Díaz and Víctor Caratini."If our players are not going to participate, if we cannot participate on equal terms, it has already been discussed, it has already been analyzed, we are considering not participating in this edition of the Classic," Quiles affirmed.
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"I know that there will be some players who will not be able to participate, but it cannot be that the country that has had the most players withdraw their sponsorship so that they can participate is Puerto Rico," he denounced. Quiles considered that, "for dignity, Puerto Rico should not participate in the Classic", but that for now they are "issuing a warning" and, depending on what happens in the coming days, they will make the final decision.The president of the Puerto Rico Baseball Federation stated that, in his opinion, "those who are boycotting the Classic and hindering the Classic are the team owners."
