Cuba has named refugee baseball professionals to its national team for the first time.

Eight years after fleeing the Caribbean country, Andy Ibanez and Yoan Lopez, who are now under contract in the North American professional league Major League Baseball (MLB), received an invitation from their home association to take part in a tournament in preparation for World Baseball, which is considered the World Cup Classic in March next year.

Cuban exile Elian Leyva, who plays in Mexico, was also nominated for Cuba's selection.

Observers see the surprising appointments of the three players as an attempt to curb the wave of illegal departures or attempted escapes by top athletes.

Just last year, around half of Cuba's 24-man U-23 national team broke away from the team at the Baseball World Cup in Mexico.

Several boxers and track and field athletes also turned their backs on their home country in an illegal manner.

More appeals expected

In baseball in particular, however, a weakening of the anti-professional sports doctrine imposed by Cuba's former dictator Fidel Castro has been registered for around ten years.

In 2013, baseball players were generally allowed to play for professional clubs abroad.

Five years later, the MLB even came to an agreement with the Cuban association that players from Cuba could play in the strongest league in the world and their association would receive payments from the MLB for this.

However, the government of then American President Donald Trump suspended the agreement shortly afterwards because of the sanctions regime against Cuba.

Nevertheless, in the past MLB season, 23 Cuban players among the 275 registered professionals for the season opener already made up the third strongest group among the "Legionnaires".

Ibanez is a MLB infielder for the Detroit Tigers, Lopez is a pitcher for the New York Mets, and Leyva is a player with the Naranjos de Hermosillo.

Apart from the trio, Cuba has not yet nominated any players for the tournament, although other MLB professionals who have fled Cuba are now expected to be called up.

The World Baseball Classic is the most important international tournament for national teams and has the status of a world championship.

The competition, which has been held four times since 2006 and each time in several countries, is the first and only official country tournament with MLB professionals.