USOC Meeting : Castro May Be Invited to Indianapolis Games

Officials of the organizing committee for the Pan American Games this summer in Indianapolis are engaged in informal discussions with the U.S. State Department that could enable Cuban President Fidel Castro to attend the games.

The president of PAX/Indianapolis (PAX/I), Mark Miles, said Saturday Cuban Olympic Committee officials have indicated Castro would accept an invitation from the organizing committee or the U.S. government.

Miles said PAX/I wants to invite Castro but must gain approval from the State Department.

Citing security and logistical problems, Miles said he is not optimistic the State Department will sanction the invitation.

“But I wouldn’t rule it out,” Miles said. “I don’t think it will be determined soon.”

Miles will lead a 26-member delegation from PAX/I to Havana next week to discuss the Cubans’ plans for sending its 750-member team to Indianapolis for the games, which are scheduled for Aug. 7-23.

The Cubans, who have won the bid for the 1991 Pan American Games, will have the third-largest team at this summer’s games behind the United States and Canada.

“As the next host, Havana’s highest ranking executive will have a role in the closing ceremony here,” Miles said.

“That usually means the mayor. But it may be their view that the president of the country is the highest ranking executive.”

Miles made his statements at a news conference during a break in the United States Olympic Committee’s two-day House of Delegates meeting.

The meeting ended Saturday night with the USOC’s annual awards banquet. Recognized as male and female athletes of the year for 1986 were swimmer Matt Biondi and heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Biondi, who swims for California, set two world records in sprints last year and won seven medals at the world championships in Madrid. Joyner-Kersee, formerly of UCLA, set two world records in the heptathlon last year.

Cyclist Judy Caunter of Marblehead, Mass., received the Jack Kelly Fair Play Award for sportsmanship.

Earlier Saturday, the USOC voted to allow its site selection committee to recommend two cities from among Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Antonio, Washington, D.C., Detroit and Orlando to be the sites for National Olympic Festivals in 1990 and 1991. The National Olympic Festival formerly was known as the National Sports Festival. It will be held this summer in Raleigh/Durham, N.C.

Minneapolis is considered the favorite for 1990 and Los Angeles or Orlando for 1991. The site selection committee has arranged to visit Los Angeles Monday.

The USOC’s Executive Board will vote by mail in June whether to accept the site selection committee’s recommendations.

The USOC also voted Saturday to give San Diego one year to complete a study and submit a plan for a multi-sport training center. There are training centers in Colorado Springs, Lake Placid, N.Y., and Marquette, Mich., but San Diego would be the first in a warm climate.

A task force, chaired by San Diego Councilwoman Gloria McColl, has selected 60 acres belonging to UC-San Diego as a possible training center site. The task force estimated it would need between $20 million and $25 million to build the facility.

USOC member Anita DeFrantz of Los Angeles said she is aware of other Western cities that are interested in building training centers, but the USOC voted not to designate a site until it has heard San Diego’s plan.