A Cuban soccer player has highly-likely defected in Nashville, USA, where an Olympic qualifying tournament were being held this week.

NASHVILLE / NationalTurk – The Cuban international soccer player Yosmel de Armas who may be trying to defect in the United States left his team while it was in Tennessee for an Olympic qualifying tournament, local media reported.

U.S. authorities declined comment on the location of Cuban defensive player Yosmel de Armas, who was absent with the team when it left a downtown Nashville hotel on Tuesday. Another Cuban player, teammate of Yosmel de Armas confirmed that De Armas had left the Cuban National Soccer team.

Yosmel de Armas joins the rank of Cuban sportsman defecting in the USA

When Yosmel De Armas was absent from Monday night’s final game in the tournament against Canada, the Cuban manager stated the player was sick and had stayed at the hotel. De Armas had played on Saturday night when El Salvador defeated Cuba 4-0.

Metro Nashville Police referred all inquiries to the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of Homeland Security had no comment about the Cuban player or his possible defection in the USA.

Tournament sponsor CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) would not comment on his whereabouts either since defection in the USA by South American athletes is a common, yet serious thing. Latin countries lose sportsman and  – woman alike constantly to arch-rivals United States of America.

Conexion Americas, a Nashville agency that aids Latino immigrants, informed it hasn’t heard from defeting de Armas, neither has Catholic Charities, two Nashville area immigration attorneys nor local police.

Cuban Athletes pursue a more lucrative career in the US by defection

Cuban athletes defecting to pursue a potentially lucrative professional career outside communist-run Cuba, specailly in the USA has a history. In 2008, 7 members of Cuba’s Olympic soccer team defected in Florida after a game against the United States.

‘ This is another case of a Cuban athletes or sportsman or sportswomen trying to get a better and decent life, to try to take control of their own careers,” stated Omar Lopez, general director of the Cuban American National Foundation, a Miami-based group that represents Cuban exiles, refugees.

‘ There is a constant flow of defections from the Cuban sports machine,” underlined Omar Lopez, who emigrated from Cuba in 1992 in the USA.

Cuban footballer keeps hiding by a family member or a friend before emigrating by defection

Yosmel de Armas keeps hiding and i am not suprised at all he has not surfaced yet, the defection master stated. ‘ Most of these guys have family or friends in the US. So many Cuban athletes have defected before and they keep contact with their homeland,’ he expressed.

‘ Through a friend they send a message ‘I plan to defect and I’m going to this event’ and probably a family member or friend is there to help them defect.” Once the player feels safe, ‘ eventually they arrive at an immigration office.’

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