Cuban volleyball players will have the possibility to play in foreign leagues beginning from next year, local press reported on Sunday.

"In January it is very possible that Cuban players will join international leagues," said the President of the Cuban Volleyball Federation, Ariel Sainz, cited by Radio Habana Cuba website.

"We want to begin a work of adaptation towards a system that is totally new for them," said Sainz adding that the largest possibilities for Cuban players abroad are the leagues from Japan, Indonesia and Turkey.

In September 2013, the Cuban government approved a new payment policy for the sports sector for the island to recover its competitiveness.

The new policy allows athletes to sign with foreign teams, though so far only a small group of baseball players have signed contracts in Mexico and Japan.

More than 40 Cuban volleyball players have abandoned the national teams in the last 15 years and some of them, such as Osmany Juantorena, Robertlandy Simon, Osvaldo Hernandez, Rosir Calderon and Taismaris Aguero, have largely succeeded in the world's top leagues.

Cuba banned professional sports after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959.