By JACK CURRY
Cuba has been granted a license to participate in the World Baseball Classic by the Treasury Department, two people with direct knowledge of the process said today, enabling the country to compete in the 16-team tournament that runs from March 3-20. The license eliminates a thorny complication and potentially fatal blow to the event. If Cuba had been denied a license, the inaugural event would have been jeopardized because the International Baseball Federation said it would remove its sanction.
The two people with knowledge of the decision spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not yet authorized to discuss it. Officials from Major League Baseball and the Players Association were certain to be relieved that Cuba, which won the 2004 Olympic gold medal, could participate in the World Baseball Classic. Cuba, a traditional baseball power, is in Pool C in the four-pool event, with Puerto Rico, Panama and the Netherlands. An official announcement about the license was expected this afternoon.
When the World Baseball Classic first sought a license for Cuba, the Treasury Department denied it because the Cubans would have made American dollars. That would have violated the United States' trade embargo against Cuba. The tournament organizers submitted a second license request on Dec. 22 and eliminated any possibility that the Cubans would earn money. Paul Archey, baseball's senior vice president for international matters, and Doyle Pryor, a union lawyer, met with Cuban officials last week to gather information that had been requested by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, a division of the Treasury Department. After Mr. Archey and Mr. Pryor gave the information to the Treasury Department, they were optimistic that Cuba would soon get a license, and the approval came through today. The deadline for provisional rosters has already passed so Cuba will have to provide its roster as soon as possible.
