Antonio Becali, president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER by its Spanish acronym), received the Cuban team that won the silver medal in the Men´s U21 World Volleyball Championship held in the Czech Republic.

"We are pleased to meet and congratulate you on behalf of the country's leaders, the Cuban sports movement and, I dare say, on behalf of our people," Becali said at Jose Marti Airport.

"Thank you for the happiness given to our people. I can assure you that everybody are talking about your performance, something historical, which was not achieved for many years, "stated Becali in a simple and emotional meeting attended by Jorge Polo Vazquez, vice president of INDER; Ariel Sainz, president of the Cuban Volleyball Federation; and Wilmer Lewis, director of the Cerro Pelado High Performance Athlete Training School.

"This silver medal is something very promising, because it happens in the first year of the Olympic cycle and sets a pattern of what the Cuban volleyball will be with a view to Tokyo 2020," Becali noted.

Nicolas Vives, head coach of the team, told JIT sports publication this performance proves the Cuban volleyball is starting to give important signs of recovery.

Sainz highlighted the significance of this result, "which expresses the serious and hard work we are doing every day".

He also weighed in the reserve of players who are training today at the National Volleyball School and in the provinces, and he had words of praise for Vives and his coaching staff, main responsible - along with the players - for this tremendous joy.