Cuba and Japan Sign Sports MOU Ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Cuba and Japan have signed an agreement related to the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. The visit and its resulting Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) strengthen bilateral sports cooperation between the two countries.

The Cuban delegation was chaired by Osvaldo Vento, president of National Institute of Physical Education, Sports and Recreation (INDER). INDER Vice President Jorge Polo, Roberto L. Richards of Cuba’s Olympic Committee, and the Cuban Ambassador to Japan, Carlos Miguel Pereira Hernández were also in attendance.

Japan’s participation was led by Daichi Suzuki, head of the Japanese Sports Agency.

The MOU which identified accommodations, services, transportation, logistics and training facilities for the Cuban teams prior to the Olympics, was signed by the Mayor of the city of Higashimatsuyama, Koichi Morita, and the President of the Daito Bunka University, Hirofumi Kadowaki.

While in Tokyo, the INDER delegation toured the sports facilities in Tokyo and met with the president of the Chunichi Dragons, Japan’s Professional Baseball League (NPB), with which two Cuban baseball players, Raidel Martínez and Ariel Martínez, are under contract.

The INDER visit also included meetings with the Japanese Olympic Committee and the Organizing Committee of the Games.

Cuba’s Olympic team is estimated to consist of approximately one hundred athletes in 14 sports, a figure to be confirmed at a later date.­

Japanese Sports Agency head Suzuki visited Havana last June to attend a series of meetings with officials and meet some of Cuba’s champion athletes.

The visit also celebrates the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Japan.

Ambassador Pereira Hernández said of the INDER visit to Tokyo, “It was confirmed once again that, in the fraternal and historical friendship between the two countries, the passion for sport is a shared value among our peoples, and the will for its integral development is a common priority of our governments.”

Speaking of the event, INDER’s president Vento stated: “We are confident that our athletes will have the possibility of raising their technical level, and at the same time learn from the discipline, culture and history of the noble Japanese people.”

INDER’s visit to Cuba concluded on August 23.