Havana/The Cuban Embassy in Sweden denounced the denial of visas for the Cuban soccer team made up of children under 16 years of age, which was invited to participate in the Gothia Cup tournament to be held in the city of Gothenburg, between July 12 and 18. According to the Cuban diplomatic headquarters, “applicants must demonstrate that they have sufficient socioeconomic ties with their country of origin.”
The Cuban Embassy recalled that other teams on the island have suffered this type of exclusion before, mainly in events in which the United States has hosted and now “the Swedish authorities join this unfair, politicized and discriminatory position.”
According to the statement, the decision was announced last Tuesday by the Swedish Embassy in Havana to the Cuban Football Association (AFC). The island’s authorities considered the decision as a “totally exclusive, discriminatory and lacerating” act, also “contrary to the values promoted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which requires that the organizers of sporting events guarantee access without political, religious or racial discrimination.”
However, the regulations of the Gothia Cup establishes that some of the participants “need a Schengen visa type C”, a document valid to travel freely between the 29 member countries of the zone, among which are Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.
The organizer of the event specifies that “the decision to grant or deny a visa is always made by the Embassy”, so Gothia Cup “has no influence on its decision”.
The organizer of the event specifies that “the decision to grant or deny a visa is always made by the Embassy”
Among the requirements to be met, applicants are asked for socioeconomic ties, which refer to verifying reasons for returning to Cuba, such as studies and family roots. When dealing with minors, “this is usually evaluated through the situation of the parents,” according to the Swedish Embassy in Havana. What for the Island, according to the statement, is “serious to try to apply this type of restrictive measures to children, taking into account that the Cuban team is made up of athletes under 16 years of age.”
This Thursday the Communist Party confirmed that the sports association Proletären FF, which invited Cuba, “has been raising funds for a long time” for the trip of the Island’s representative, but given the refusal of the Embassy, it has called for it to rectify its decision.
Last February, The United States denied him a visa eight members of the Island’s national team that will participate in the World Baseball Classic. Among the members was the president of the organization, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo; the general secretary, Carlos del Pino Muñoz; and pitching coach and former pitcher Pedro Luis Lazo Iglesias.
Last February, the United States denied visas to eight members of the island’s national team that will participate in the World Baseball Classic.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term, pressure on the island has increased. In May of last year, the United States once again included Cuba in the list of countries that do not fully cooperate in its fight against terrorism.
That same month, due to the denial of visas, the president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, Roberto León Richards, and other leaders were unable to participate in meetings of Panam Sports, the American Olympic body.
Fearing to put his residence in the United States at risk, last June the goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena He preferred to give up playing with Cuba in the Concacaf qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup, against Bermuda, which took place at the Antonio Maceo stadium.
At the end of June, the France 24 network had access to the letter sent to one of the volleyball players on the national team who had a guaranteed place in the Norceca Final Four. “You are not eligible for a nonimmigrant visa under section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, according to the presidential proclamation.”
