A Little League team from Venezuela was denied entry to the United States for the Senior League Baseball World Series, according to Little League International.
The Cacique Mara team from Maracaibo was “unfortunately unable to obtain the appropriate visas,” Little League International said in a statement, adding that the decision was “extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes.”
Venezuela is one of several countries whose nationals are restricted from or limited in travel into the United States under the proclamation signed by President Donald Trump in June.
A senior State Department official told The Washington Post on Saturday that officials were “working to review the case to confirm proper procedures were followed and necessary appeals were submitted by the visa applicants.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Venezuelan team had qualified to compete in Little League’s Senior League Baseball World Series in South Carolina, which began Saturday, by winning the Latin American championship. The senior league division is for boys and girls ages 13 to 16.
The team traveled to Colombia two weeks ago to apply for their visas at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, the Associated Press reported.
“It is a mockery on the part of Little League to keep us here in Bogotá with the hope that our children can fulfill their dreams of participating in a world championship,” the team said in a statement to the AP. “What do we do with so much injustice, what do we do with the pain that was caused to our children?”
Tournament organizers say they replaced the team with the Santa María de Aguayo team from Tamaulipas, Mexico, which lost the Latin American championship game, adding that this was to “ensure the Latin America Region is represented in the tournament and that the players, coaches and families from Mexico are able to have a memorable World Series experience.”
The decision to bar the teenage athletes from entering the United States comes as the country prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
Though Trump’s travel ban restrictions include an exception for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State,” members of the Cuban women’s national volleyball team were denied visas to enter Puerto Rico to compete in a tournament this month.
Glynn A. Hill contributed to this report.
