"They did it with the Venezuelan airline with Peru, we chose another one, but you see that they don't even respect another airline that's foreign," said Óscar Villegas, Bolivia's coach.
Bolivia's national team was unable to return to La Paz after the match in Maturín and reported that Maduro's dictatorship sought to hinder their preparation for the match against Chile
"They did it with the Venezuelan airline with Peru, we chose another one, but you see that they don't even respect another airline that's foreign," said Óscar Villegas, Bolivia's coach.
The Bolivia national team not only lost 2-0 to Venezuela in the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, but also experienced an unusual situation as it became the victim of an apparent sabotage: they were prevented from returning to La Paz on their charter flight the same Friday night, after the match held in Maturín.
After boarding the aircraft, the delegation was informed that no flight had authorization to take off. As justification, the authorities indicated that there was a major congestion in the airspace. After waiting inside the plane for two hours, everyone had to return to the hotel.
"We're being held hostage in Venezuela. This is a sabotage against the Bolivian national team. They claim air traffic when there were only two planes flying," said the president of the Bolivian Football Federation, Harold Howard.
The Bolivian delegation reported that it was a deliberate maneuver by the Nicolás Maduro regime to hinder their preparation before the next home match against Chile, scheduled for Tuesday.
In sporting terms, currently Venezuela holds the play-off spot with 18 points, while Bolivia has 14 and is ranked lower in the standings. In this context, Villegas commented: "They (the Venezuelans) need us to do badly against Chile, that's clear."
Finally, the flight was able to take off almost at noon on Saturday bound for La Paz, where the squad was scheduled to rest and continue training.