Caracas (AFP)

Fans doubt and the case is preoccupying the government of Nicolas Maduro: the 2019-2020 baseball season is in danger in Venezuela because of US sanctions that could prevent Venezuelans under contract with US clubs to return home play this winter as they usually do it.

The question is devilishly serious in this South American country where the "pelota" is a national sport. The late President Hugo Chavez (1999-2013) was himself a baseball fan, so much so that, at a young age, he would have loved to embrace a pitcher's career.

And as in every offseason, Venezuelan players in the prestigious Major League Baseball League (MLB) had to return home to play in the Venezuelan championship, which begins on October 18.

This allows Venezuelan star players, who are paid tens of millions of dollars a year by US franchises, to stay in shape and maintain a connection with the country, teams and the public that saw them born.

But, stupefaction, the MLB decided, for the moment, to forbid them to go tease the leather ball in their native country this winter. Venezuela has even been excluded from the Winter League Agreement, which regulates relations between it and the Caribbean countries' baseball leagues.

Politics has been involved in the game. The administration of Donald Trump has taken a range of financial sanctions against the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro to put him under pressure and, ultimately, push him to the exit.

And among the Venezuelan entities sanctioned by Washington is PDVSA, the public oil conglomerate, which is also the main sponsor of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP).

So, not to have to negotiate with a sanctioned Venezuelan entity, the MLB American prefers to ban any loan players in Venezuela, pending a clear answer from the Federal Agency for Financial Sanctions (FOCA) that it has asked for the procedure to follow.

This ban has a huge impact, as 96 Venezuelans played in MLB in 2019 and 1,800 in minor leagues.

- "No control" -

To complicate matters, the Venezuelan League is experiencing its worst crisis since its inception in 1946. Its president Juan José Avila resigned Thursday evening evoking "family reasons" and no successor has yet been appointed.

So, what about a Venezuelan season without those haloed players from their careers in the United States?

The Chavan government did not care. Diosdado Cabello, number two of Chavismo and president of the National Constituent Assembly, recently assured: "we will see baseball here, even if we have to play ourselves, I highly recommend team owners to find a solution" .

In the Venezuelan League, it is expected to actively seek solutions to remove "any obstacle" to the season starts normally. But the leader of a club, who wants his anonymity preserved, admits he has "no control" on the sequence of events.

The eight Venezuelan clubs were forced to review the composition of their teams without including the stars of the MLB. "Baseball players, of course there are," said the club's leader on condition of anonymity, but "of a less good level".

Another solution would be to recruit players under contract in other US leagues that MLB or evolving outside the United States. But, again, it is still the unknown, as explained by Guillermo Moscoso, who now plays in Mexico after a stint in MLB.

"I am Venezuelan and I have American citizenship, will I be able to play (in Venezuela, ed), or are there any sanctions?", He wondered on the social networks.

"These are the kinds of questions that television channels, sponsors and suppliers are also asking themselves," says AFP Efrain Savarce, a journalist specializing in baseball.

Because the official equipment supplier of the Venezuelan League is none other than Rawlings ... an American company. And the Venezuelan channels that broadcast the championship are somehow linked to American companies.

© 2019 AFP