Venezuela’s government on Monday said that the next domestic baseball season would take place, despite reports that the MLB is barring its players from participating.
The Wall Street Journal last week reported that major and minor-league players would be prevented from participating in the Venezuelan league during their off-season as MLB chiefs seek clarification on how US sanctions against the crisis-wracked South American nation affects the movement of players.
Only Venezuelan players not employed by MLB clubs would be allowed to return to their home country to play.
“There will be baseball here, we’ll just have to play ourselves,” Venezuelan Constituent Assembly President Diosdado Cabello said.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on Venezuelan government assets in the US and barred transactions with its authorities.
The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League is sponsored by the state oil company PDVSA, which has been subjected to US sanctions since January.
The new season is to begin on Nov. 5.
Although the league’s eight teams are mostly made up of local players, traditionally, young prospects from MLB squads have played in the championship in a bid to gain experience and exposure.
Cabello at a news conference called on “team owners to invent” a way to overcome the restrictions.
He also blamed Venezuela’s woes on the opposition and the US.
“Our people know that what’s happening in Venezuela ... is the fault of sectors of the opposition and the United States, which is at the forefront of the embargoes and sanctions,” he said.
Major league teams in the US have previously urged Venezuelan players to be careful when visiting their country.
The mother of Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Elias Diaz was kidnapped early last year, but released three days later.
In 2011, the Venezuelan sports world was shocked by the kidnapping of MLB catcher Wilson Ramos, then with the Washington Nationals and now playing for the New York Mets. The kidnappers were caught and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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