German TV station says two Cuban boxers were approached by men posing as its reporters

German TV station says two Cuban boxers were approached by men posing as
its reporters
© AP
2007-09-01 19:03:02 -

BERLIN (AP) - A German television station confirmed Saturday that two
men working for a boxing promoter posed as its reporters to gain access
to two Cuban boxers who had abandoned the Pan American Games.
Public TV network ZDF said the two impostors gained accreditation by
using falsified papers to speak to two-time defending Olympic
bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux and world champion Erislandy
Lara.
«We've known about this for a while, we have investigated it, also
legally,» ZDF spokesman Walter Kehr told The Associated Press. «That
they worked for us has been shown to be false.
German boxing promoter Arena said at the time it had signed the two
fighters to five-year contracts.
The two boxers have since returned to Cuba after setting off an
international incident on July 22 at the Pan Ams in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, when Rigondeaux failed to attend a weigh-in and Lara did not
show for his fight.
The fighters have been dropped from the Cuba national team and the
country's boxing federation, fearing more defection attempts, refuses to
attend the world championships in Chicago.
Kehr said the two impostors worked for a Hamburg boxing stall _ but not
Arena _ and that they were able to gain accreditation to the games with
a letter from a ZDF sports coordinator.
«We don't have a position like that,» Kehr said.
After Rigondeaux and Lara had become the latest to try and defect,
Castro said «there is a mafia» that uses «refined psychological methods
and many millions of dollars» to lure Cuban boxers.

Rigondeaux and Lara denied signing contracts with Arena, seeking asylum
in Brazil or inquiring about a visa for Germany in the 11 days after
they went missing from the games. Authorities had said they partied
excessively in a resort town near Rio de Janeiro during that time.
German magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday that ZDF feared Castro
might curtail the station's coverage in Cuba after its unwitting
involvement in the boxers' attempted defection.
However, Kehr could not confirm the magazine's report that ZDF has filed
a criminal complaint against the two impostors, or that it had sent a
letter informing the Cuban ambassador of the «misuse of the practices of
accreditation for journalists.

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