What If There was A Hoops Tourney And No One Showed But You...???

((HT: Birmingham News/Stock, Crenshaw))

The Venezuelan national men's basketball team ((pictured, thanks Pastora Castrillo/al.com special)) came to Birmingham last week expecting to play in an international tournament but left early because a promoter failed to provide meals, transportation and flight reimbursements, an official with the team claimed Tuesday.

"This was a real disaster," said Venezuelan team technical director Francisco Diez in a phone interview Tuesday. "There's no money. There's no games. I feel ridiculous and frustrated."

The promoter, Anthony Toney of Birmingham, had told team officials they would compete against a mix of local and international teams, but the Birmingham Gladiators were the only other team in the Freewill Games tournament in Birmingham last week, said Diez, who handles scheduling for the Venezuelan team.

The group ended up leaving Birmingham on Friday -- 10 days ahead of schedule.

Tuesday night Toney disputed the reason for the team's early departure but declined to elaborate. Last Friday, he told The Birmingham News that the team left early because it did not want to experience the embarrassment of losing again to the Gladiators, who had an 86-84 victory Thursday night at Bill Harris Arena at Fair Park in the one tournament game that was played.

Diez denied that.

Toney, commissioner of Americas Basketball International, told Diez that his team would play a team from Nigeria and also named teams from Uruguay and Liberia as participants, in a July 19 e-mail. Last week he told The Birmingham News that other teams did not come because player visas did not clear.

Diez said Toney agreed to cover hotel costs for 15 people, which he did. But Diez said Toney failed to reimburse the team for 15 plane tickets and didn't cover most meals. Nor did anyone pick the team up at the airport last Monday, Diez said.

Toney said he provided transportation and two meals a day for the team.

"They got all of that. I've got receipts and all," he said. "They got all of that. I provided for 15 people (and) I paid for 20. So tell me I didn't take care of them."

Toney said he had vans from Budget the first day the team was in town. "I've got receipts for them eating, I've got receipts for their transportation, and I've got receipts from the hotel."

Diez said he has been asked to personally reimburse $18,000 that the team lost.

Word began to spread in the Birmingham Hispanic community about the Venezuelan team's complaints, and several people mobilized on Friday to help feed the team and take them to the airport.

"Out of respect and embarrassment, I had to comb my resources," said Theresa De Leon, who found volunteers to help the team. "... All they knew was how to walk to the (downtown) Y and to the Magic City Grill."

Jefferson County Judge Scott Vowell ended up personally paying for the team to eat lunch at John's City Diner, after he got a call from Mavi Figueres, a court interpreter who was trying to help the team. Vowell also invited the team to his courtroom and apologized.

"It's a black eye for our city," said Vowell, the presiding judge in Jefferson County.

The Venezuelan team decided to play in Birmingham as preparation for an international tournament in Puerto Rico next month, Diez said.

The treatment the Venezuelans received from the promoter on U.S. soil could be seen as an insult not only to the team but to its country, said Figueres, who worked as a political adviser on Latin America for Gov. Don Siegelman and as an international business consultant.

At least one Venezuelan media outlet reported that the tournament was "a fraud." Others reported that it had been canceled because teams did not show up.

"Venezuela and the United States already have really bad relations," Figueres said.