(Reuters) - The Cuban Boxing Federation has been notified of an attempt by Olympic gold medallist Andy Cruz Gomez to leave the country illegally, an act of “serious indiscipline” it said yesterday.

The federation said in a statement the threetime World champion had not been picked for the professional debut of national top fighters team “Domadores de Cuba” due to “apparent demotivation”.

The team will participate in several professional leagues this year after signing a contract with the Mexican company Golden Ring Promotions.

Cuba announced in April that its top fighters would join the professional boxing circuit following decades of shying away from the sport after former leader Fidel Castro banned sports for pay following his leftist 1959 revolution.

“The fact, which qualifies as serious indiscipline in our sport’s regulations, will be examined accordingly and we will inform (of our decision) in due course,” the federation said.

Cruz could not be immediately reached for comment.

The federation added that Cruz, who won his gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year, had not taken part in the national boxing tournament Campeonato Nacional de Boxeo Playa Girón last week after skipping his training.