The Cubans will be allowed to participate in the inaugural World Baseball Classic after the U.S. government reversed course Friday and issued the special license necessary for the communist nation to play in the 16-team tournament.

Baseball's first application was denied in mid-December by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, but the commissioner's office and the players union reapplied Dec. 22 after Cuba said it would donate any profits it receives to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"The president wanted to see it resolved in a positive way," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Our concerns were centered on making sure that no money was going to the Castro regime and that the World Baseball Classic would not be misused by the regime for spying. We believe the concerns have been addressed."

The license was required by American sanctions against Cuba designed to prevent Fidel Castro's government from receiving U.S. currency. At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack said the initial rejection was based on concerns Cuban spies might accompany the team.

After the initial rejection, the International Baseball Federation threatened to withdraw its sanction of the tournament if Cuba was not allowed to participate. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said this week that any future U.S. bids to host the Olympics would have to ensure there would be no restrictions on participating nations.

Paul Archey, a senior vice president of Major League Baseball International, and union lawyer Doyle Pryor went to Cuba earlier this month to negotiate terms of Cuba's participation that would be acceptable to the Bush administration.

"Everybody involved in the tournament wanted the best teams in the world to be involved, and certainly Cuba is one of those teams," U.S. manager Buck Martinez said. "Everybody feels pretty confident this is now really going to be a test of the best teams in the world."

The tournament, the first in which the world's top players will participate on national teams, runs from March 3-20. The other 15 teams submitted their 60-man preliminary rosters earlier this week.

Cuba's roster is not expected to include defectors such as Jose Contreras, Orlando Hernandez and Livan Hernandez.

Notes

• New Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini reorganized the front office. Chief operating officer John Allen will stay but will focus on the business side of the ballclub. General manager Dan O'Brien will run the baseball side, reporting directly to Castellini.

• Ozzie Guillen, manager of the World Series champion Chicago White Sox, celebrated his 42nd birthday by becoming a U.S. citizen along with wife Ibis and son Oney. Guillen, from Venezuela, said gaining U.S. citizenship "makes it easier for everyone" in his family.

• Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Jason Michaels, 29, agreed to complete 100 hours of community service to settle charges that he allegedly assaulted a police officer.

• Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz said he is "ecstatic" about the way his arm feels after the first two weeks of his offseason throwing program. He has had four operations on his right elbow.

• Minor-league umpires turned down a labor contract offering a small salary increase.

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