PELOTA VASCA CONQUERS AMERICA

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PELOTA VASCA CONQUERS AMERICA In holding its World Championships in Havana, the International Pelota Vasca Federation certainly honoured a country with a tradition, but

1 PELOTA VASCA CONQUERS AMERICA In holding its World Championships in Havana, the International Pelota Vasca Federation certainly honoured a country with a tradition, but President Fernandez lriondo also found there a strategic base from which to develop the sport on the American continent. Jesus Fernandez lriondo has been President of the International 40

2 Pelota Vasca Federation since 1978 and he has a further four years before him, as he was recently re-elected in 1990 in the absence of a successor. At the XI World Championships, which came to an end in Havana in November, we asked him about his plans for the development of a sport which wishes to remain confined to the Basque country no longer, and which will be able to benefit from three successive springboards, the World Championships, the Panamerican Games (in August 1991, in Havana again) and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. - Christian Jaurena : Why choose Cuba as the venue for the World Championships? CRISTIAN JAURENA INTERVIEWS MR FERNANDEZ IRIONDO, PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL PELOTA VASCA FEDERATION - Jesus Fernandez lriondo : These World Championships were to be held in the United States, but the Americans finally withdrew and in 1986 when we came to pick the venue, we found ourselves without a candidate. I thought of Cuba, because it is a country in which young people engage in all sports with success. I said to myself, why not pelota, because there is a tradition here with Cesta Punta and Frontenis (1) That is why, although I was aware of the country s economic problems, I asked the government to organize our championships. After a year of discussions, President Fidel Castro finally accepted. - Did you know him personally? - No. I started off meeting with the sports people. First, I convinced them. And little by little, I ascended the country s hierarchy up to Fidel. In a democratic country, I would have had to convince a host of partners involved in the organization of championships. Here, if you manage to convince the right person, your problems are over. - For some months now, Cuba has been going through a very difficult patch economically. How was it possible to come up with the money to construct the courts for a sport which has practically vanished from the island? - Cuba s dollar reserves are very low and most of the facilities were built with locally produced materials. But for the trinquet court, for example, the glass wall had to be bought in England. The International Federation made Cuba an advance, but we shall be paid back out of the TV and advertising revenues. 41

3 INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS - In your view, what prompted Fidel Castro to accept your proposal in the end? - I believe that he thinks that he made a mistake when he closed the Jai Alai in Havana in In order to kill the betting, he also killed the sport, and I think he has some regrets. And there is also the fact that Pelota Vasca is making its entry into the Barcelona Games in 1992, and this time Cuba won t be boycotting. - Doesn t the choice of Cuba also reveal a strategic plan to develop pelota on the American continent? - Absolutely. Cuba is, in a way, the focus of sport in Latin America, and not only of sport. There are many political, economic and cultural exchanges between Havana and the rest of the continent s capitals. Cuba may be able to serve as a decisive platform for the launching of pelota. The main obstacle to the expansion of our sport is the cost of the equipment and infrastructures. How can we expect a Bolivian worker who earns an average of 500 francs a month to play with a pelota which costs 150 francs and which he can only use for a small number of matches? In Cuba, they have been manufacturing their own equipment for two years now in the lnder (2) manufacturing units. Very soon, they will be able to produce pelotas of acceptable quality industrially for ten francs. - If the Cubans become as involved in pelota as you say, won t they be snapping up all the titles in ten years time? - All the titles may be overstating the case, but this country will undoubtedly be taking part in many finals...provided that the political system does not change. Now that the decision to play pelota has been taken, the players do practically nothing The Fronton Colon, in the heart of Barcelona s famous Ramblas, will host the pelota tournament during the Games. 42

else. If the system holds, we shall have to reckon with Cuba. - But won t pelota then become much less Basque? - I have always said that pelota is the sport of our people for all peoples.

4 else. If the system holds, we shall have to reckon with Cuba. - But won t pelota then become much less Basque? - I have always said that pelota is the sport of our people for all peoples. The Basques are a people of the world and have travelled far and wide. Our role is to develop pelota because we believe that it is a magnificent sport for everyone. - Next summer, pelota will be officially included in the programme of the Panamerican Games. Will that prompt you to include representatives of the American continent in the bureau of the International Federation? - No, we must not go too fast. We are still in the process of setting up a modern headquarters with all the means of communication modern technology offers us. It will be done on our return from Cuba, in Irun. Hitherto, the secretarial work for the International Federation was done at my home. Here, at our General Assembly, we decided to organize ourselves in commissions (technical, infrastructures, equipment, medical, training, etc.). But we can only have people who live in the Basque country for obvious reasons of travel expenses. - So what will you be leaving behind when you leave Cuba? What ties will the International Federation keep here and on the American continent? - The Latin Americans trust us to manage our sport. The process of standardizing the game will continue. It is important to realize that pelota is not played everywhere according to the same rules, with the same courts and with the same pelotas. In Bolivia, for example, where there are 15,000 bare-handed players, they play with a pelota weighing 65 grams, whereas ours weighs 100 grams. Two years ago, they switched to an 85 gram pelota and they will gradually adopt the 100 gram 43

5 INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS one. There are also courts of all imaginable dimensions in Latin America. We could say that they should all the the same and that those which do not conform with the standards should be adapted, but we shall not do that for two reasons. Firstly, because we should be destroying local traditions, and secondly because it is illusory to think that pelota, with all its specialities, can ever become a universal sport. We shall have to reduce the number of disciplines in international competitions to make pelota a good spectacle and accessible to the largest possible number of people. - That will be the case in 1992, at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Is the International Pelota Vasca Federation ready to seize the opportunity? - There could be no better platform for launching a sport than to be part of the world s greatest sports event, the one which attracts the largest number of television viewers. We are determined not to miss the opportunity. I am certain that the television viewers will be won over to our sport when they have a chance to discover it. C. J. This interview is reprinted from the French newspaper Liberation dated , with kind permission. Cesta Puma was practiced in Cuba for many years before the revolution. It is played with willow gloves (chistera). It was banned because it was betted on as is still the case in the United States (at some twenty pelota centres), Mexico, Macao, the philippines and Milan. Frontenis resembles squash and is practised with three walls (at the front, to the left and at the back) and a tennis racket. 2 The lnder lnstituto nacional de deportes, educación física y recreación) is a State body which takes care of the economic and social management of sport in Cuba. 44

They deadline to submit the candidates to FILA is ste to 15 November 2012.

They deadline to submit the candidates to FILA is ste to 15 November 2012. TO ALL BUREAU MEMBERS TO ALL NATIONAL FEDERATIONS Concern: Candidacy for the various auxiliary bodies of FILA In accordance with the FILA Constitution and regulations, the auxiliary bodies of FILA must