Leon
One of the best receivers in the world, Cuban Wilfredo León, has Polish citizenship for two years and a strong will to play for the Polish NT. But, Cuban federation still does not want to issue him the consent. Still, as Uznański revealed, there are big chances that León will compete for Poland in the 2018 FIVB World Championship.
“The Cubans are a very proud nation and they are a tough to negotiate with. It’s as if someone would want to take away Bartek (Bartosz) Kurek from us. They know the value of this player (León) well. They also know that he will no longer play for their national team, so why would they give away their pearl for free? Negotiations will be difficult, long, but they are ongoing. They require really great discretion and restraint,” claims the press spokesman of the Polish VF.
The process of changing national team jersey is long. There are several conditions to be met, but all roads lead to the consent of the native federation, which Cuban is not willing to provide.
“Is he going to compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo? I think so. Maybe even in the 2018 World Championship… Of course, this is not a declaration. The Cubans have all the cards on their side, now only the decision of the FIVB Committee could change it… We are not yet at a stage where we can talk about the specific amount of money in the negotiations …” Uznański added for “Polsat Sport”.
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