According to official documents obtained by Pelota Cubana USA, the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) forces under-18 baseball players in Cuba to sign a contract in which the Federation itself claims rights over the player’s entire career, even before the young man reaches adulthood.
The most serious aspect: this contract stipulates that the FCB has the right to collect up to $10 million for the athlete’s “training” during their professional career if signed by a major league ballclub.
In short: the FCB turns each prospect into a pawn under its control, decides their athletic future, and imposes itself as the “mandatory agent” in any international negotiation. That’s not development, it’s abuse. The Cuban Federation binds young players from the age of 16 or 17 with contracts that no other country in the world would allow and that define their path long before their career truly begins.
Once again, those who should be fostering talent end up hindering, limiting, and restricting it, while the player’s dream takes a backseat. The tough question is: how can a Federation that claims to “protect the athlete” justify a contract that imposes a $10 million obligation on a minor and forces him to sign away his future as a teenager?
This contract will not hold up in any country outside of the kangaroo courts of Cuba and Venezuela due to the fact it has obviously signed under duress, but also signed by a minor without the consent of their parents or guardian. Once again the Cuban dictatorship and FCB shows its true face in spite of its claims to be for the betterment of its athletes.