President Luis Abinader said Monday that he was extremely proud of the national baseball team’s qualification to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which he received at the National Palace, and expressed his confidence that the tricolor team will show the world the country’s potential and that “this year we are going to win”.
After proclaiming that Dominicans “simply surrender to the magic of the ball game,” he indicated that the Dominican Republic is in itself a great team “and that is why I am extremely proud to be with you today, to thank on behalf of the Dominican people the national baseball team, for having achieved the qualification to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.”
“This year, thanks to the work of you (the baseball players), thanks to the support of all these friends (Probeisbol and Fedobe), we are going to the Olympics and we are going to win,” said the president in his speech during the activity, in which he was accompanied by Vice President Raquel Peña; the Minister of Sports, Francisco Camacho; the Administrative Minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza, and the administrator of the Banco de Reservas, Samuel Pereyra.
Among the players who attended were captain Emilio Bonifacio, Melky Cabrera, Enny Romero, Charlie Valerio, Leurys Gómez, Jorge Merán, Jean Maríñez and Jefrey Pérez, as well as the coaching staff.
Businessman Felipe Vicini, president of the Probeisbol project; Juan Núñez Nepomuseno, head of the Dominican Baseball Federation, and Bonifacio, thanked the President, the Ministry of Sports and the Banco de Reservas for their support to the project to make the classification effective, as well as all the players, coaches and collaborators.
The event was attended by the president of the Dominican Olympic Committee, Antonio Acosta; the former IOC member, Luis Mejía Oviedo; the president of the Baseball League, Vitelio Mejía; the national commissioner of the sport, Junior Noboa, and the secretary general of the Fedobe, Erick Then.
Recalling that it has been 29 years since Dominican baseball last attended the Olympic Games, Abinader said that the advance to Tokyo is a historic event and reiterated that he was very proud to receive the team in the same hall “where in less than 11 months we have celebrated many sporting triumphs”.
He indicated that many years have passed since Barcelona 1992, “but today we have returned to the Olympic Games and this is to thank you, the players, our coaches, for your dedication and commitment to achieve this historic event”.
He spoke of the commitment to the sport and highlighted that the Olympic Baseball Program (Probeisbol) was created to achieve the qualification, thanks to the good harmony between the private and public sectors, represented by the Ministry of Sports, as well as the Dominican Olympic Committee, the LIDOM and its six teams and the Baseball Federation.
The president also highlighted the work of manager Héctor Borg and his coaching staff in achieving the qualification, for whom he asked for applause.
“On this occasion we return with the desire to show the world the immense potential of our national team. I am hopeful that we will be able to win and I am sure that our participation will be masterful. Thanks to everyone for making possible this great dream of an entire country that will be very attentive, giving its support,” said Abinader.
He said goodbye wishing the best and that very soon they will be able to find themselves with the medals of victory for our country.
Summer League Commission
During his speech, Abinader appointed a commission that includes the Minister of Sports, Francisco Camacho, to study the situation and determine the economic feasibility of supporting the Summer League, which until now is operated by Fedobe and which already has an agreement with LIDOM to expand it.
