Cuban footballers Ernesto Duanes and Bárbaro Shelier defected from the Futsal delegation that took

the island to Costa Rica in recent hours, confirmed sports reporter Francys Romero.

According to Romero on his Facebook profile

a>, sources close to the situation informed him that Ernesto Duanes and Bárbaro Shelier left the Cuban Futsal team participating in a training gathering in that country.

“Shelier (Havana) left the team two days ago. Duanes (Ciego de Ávila) did so this Sunday when the

team arrived at the airport to return to Cuba. Duanes had also been part of Cuba’s 11-a-side football teams. With these two departures, a total of 67 Cuban athletes have now abandoned delegations or contracts in 2023,” the sports specialist added.

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This year, Cuban football, in any of its variants, has seen several defections. During the

="https://adncuba.com/deportes/portero-de-cuba-sandy-sanchez-se-fuga-tras-partido-de-copa-de-oro">Gold Cup, held in various cities across the United States, at least five players from the island escaped from the team's concentration.

Sports journalist Alexander Ramírez Tápane confirmed on his Twitter profile that Cuba's starting

goalkeeper Sandy Sánchez, who played in the last match against Canada, defected from the football delegation competing in the United States to settle in that country.

“He did so after finishing his team's last match in the #GoldCup2023. He is the fifth Cuban player

to make this decision in this tournament,” he wrote.

Sánchez was playing as the starting goalkeeper for a club in the Dominican League, Atlético Panto

ja, with whom he had a contract until December 2023, according to Transfermarkt.

One week earlier, the defection of four other Cuban footballers had been reported during the Gold

Cup in Miami, following the match against Guatemala at the Fort Lauderdale stadium: Roberney Caballero, Denilson Morales, Neisser Sandó, and Jassael Herrera.