Olympic champion Eriel Sánchez helps retired Cuban sports legends collect pensions at his Sancti Spíritus shop

🌐 Versión en español

Foto: Contextual image: Sancti Spíritus, Cuba — Wikimedia Commons / Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert (CC BY-SA 4.0), not a photo of the athlete

September 30, 2026

Cuban former catcher and Olympic champion Eriel Sánchez León, known as El Cañón de Fomento, signed an agreement with Banco Popular de Ahorro so that more than twenty retired sports legends in Sancti Spíritus can collect their pensions at his private business El Olímpico, according to Escambray, Cubadebate and Asere.

The arrangement aims to spare older athletes from early-morning bank lines. Payments come from the shop’s cash sales and are reconciled with the bank; if liquidity runs short, the bank can advance funds. Beneficiaries include Olympic, world and Pan American athletes from sports such as rowing, shooting, judo, cycling and baseball.

«Seeing all the transformations and opportunities that are opening up, I got the idea… I thought of them first,» Sánchez said, while remaining linked to the provincial sports academy. Jacinto «Jacintón» González, an Olympian at Mexico 1968, called the gesture a recognition that «makes life much easier.» The deal is part of a wider provincial program in which several private businesses already help dozens of retirees collect pensions.

Fuente: Escambray; Cubadebate; Asere

Eriel Sánchez León

Baseball, Sports

Eriel Sánchez León, known as El Cañón de Fomento, is a Cuban former catcher born in Fomento, Sancti Spíritus. He played for the national team and won Olympic gold at Athens 2004.After his playing and managing career, he has worked as a coach at his province's sports academy and operates the private business El Olímpico in Sancti Spíritus, from which he launched an agreement to help retired sports legends collect their pensions.