Havana/Former Cuban volleyball player Joel Despaigne, included last Saturday in the Hall of Fame of International Volleyball, could not be present at the ceremony held in the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts, because the United States denied him a visa. The man from Santiago, who has lived in Italy for several years, told Prensa Latina this Monday that the US consulate in Rome alleged that neither he nor his wife met the requirements.
He explained that the consular authorities reported the refusal via email, despite the fact that the organizers of the ceremony took steps to have the visas granted. “They have nothing to do with it, they are issues of the United States consulate, of politics, that they did not give permission,” he told the agency.
In the interview, Despaigne questioned whether the White House sanctions permeate sport and block the participation of athletes in international events, as also happened in the last World Cup, in which the Iranian team had to set up its base in Tijuana, in the north of Mexico, to only travel to the United States to play its matches.
Despaigne questioned whether the White House sanctions permeate sport and block the participation of athletes
“I have never agreed that sport has to mix with politics. Sport is an international thing where one athlete confronts another,” he said. “I represent Cuba, I represent my family, I represent the honor of the Cuban people in sports,” he added.
The devilas the former volleyball player is known for his aggressive attack on the net, said that, given the visa denial, those responsible for the Hall of Fame offered him the possibility of receiving the tribute along with those who are inducted as part of the Class of 2027.
In any case, during the ceremony held over the weekend, Despaigne sent a video message that was broadcast during the event. “If people still remember, it means I left traces.”
The former athlete, who began playing at the age of 12, when he was chosen to enter the School Sports Initiation School of Santiago de Cuba, was considered the best player in the world in the 1989-1990 season, years in which he was part of the national team that won the 1989 World Cup and won the silver medal in the 1990 World Championship.
He was considered the best player in the world in the 1989-1990 season, years in which he was part of the national team that won the 1989 World Cup.
Born in Santiago de Cuba on July 2, 1966, he was also an important player in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. In that edition, the team achieved the second best result in history for Cuba, placing fourth, behind Brazil, the Netherlands and the United States.
Likewise, it was key in the editions of the World League – today Volleyball Nations League– held between 1991 and 1997, in which Cuba achieved four second places and one third. In addition, he was a reference in the teams that won the gold, silver and bronze medals in the 1987, 1991 and 1995 Pan American Games, and the title in the 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games.
Throughout his more than 350 international matches “he became a symbol of the powerful Cuban style of play and remains one of the most recognizable figures in the history of this sport,” said the committee that elected the man from Santiago to the Hall of Fame.
“He became a symbol of the powerful Cuban style of play and remains one of the most recognizable figures in the history of this sport”
With his induction, Despaigne became the first men’s player from the Island to enter the Hall of Fame and is the ninth Cuban awarded, after the best coach of women’s teams of the 20th century, Eugenio George, and the members of the women’s team, known as the Queens of the Caribbean, Mireya Luis, Magaly Carvajal, Regla Torres, Regla Bell, Taismary Agüero, Mirka Francia and Yumilka Ruiz, who is today commissioner national.
The former player was part of the golden generation of Cuban volleyball, which today is far from those feats. In the World Cups, the Island has experienced an unstoppable decline in its results since 2014. That year, in the tournament held in Poland, the Cubans finished in 11th place. Four years later, in the championship played in Italy and Bulgaria, the team finished in 17th place. In 2022, it finished in 14th place, while, in the last edition, in Philippines 2025, it obtained its worst result in history, occupying position 20.
Regarding the Olympic Games, the Island did not attend to the two most recent editions, and in the last one in which it participated, in Rio 2016, it finished in last place, tied with Mexico. Forty years earlier, he had recorded his best performance, in Montreal 1976, when he won the bronze medal.
