By David Carrigg, Sun Media. CNews. Monday, August 14, 2000
EDMONTON -- An international baseball boss has blasted a player agent he blames for luring two Cubans to defect during an Edmonton tournament.
But the Cuban baseball team is blithely ignoring the departures.
"I don't care, it's their problem not mine," said Lourdes Gouriel, assistant coach for Cuba's youth baseball team.
"We're going home to have a big holiday, everything is perfect."
Seventeen-year-old Cuban catcher William Plaza and pitcher Yolexandry Reina, 18, both left the team last week, tournament officials confirmed yesterday.
The players are believed to have left Edmonton for Mexico.
Gaston Panaye, tournament director and board member of the International Baseball Federation, is furious at New York-based player agent Joe Kehoskie, who he said helped the two defect.
"The fellow who organized this, I won't call him a crook, but he just wants to make money.
"They're just young kids and someone has influenced them," Panaye said.
"We have to talk about this at our committee meeting next month, something must be done."
At last year's Pan American Games in Winnipeg, 10 Cubans defected.
The defections caused an international rift between Canada and Cuba.
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