Volleyball Australia officials spent 24 hours trying to locate the missing Venezuela women's volleyball team after a bizarre worldwide search on Saturday.
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A mad scramble in Canberra had officials scratching their heads after being told the team was to arrive in the capital at 6am on Saturday before playing in a world grand prix tournament at the AIS Arena.
Canberra Airport had no knowledge of the flight or its scheduled arrival time, causing major confusion for organisers who had to cancel Venezuela's clash against the Australian Volleyroos.
However, Fairfax Media was told on Saturday night a "special Venezuelan flight" was expected to arrive in Perth on Sunday at 1.30pm AEST.
The confusion was compounded by ongoing political and economic unrest in Venezuela, with speculation the players were trying to escape the drama in their home country.
Clashes between police and protesters have killed more than 100 people and injured 1500 in the anti-government protests since April. President Nicolas Maduro faces pressure to cancel plans to create a new super body called a Constituent Assembly, which would have powers to rewrite the constitution.
Amid the crisis, applications for asylum lodged by Venezuelan nationals have added to 52,000 already this year against 27,000 in 2016, the United Nations refugee agency said this week. This represented "only a fraction" of those in need of safe harbour from violence and food shortages, it said.
The Venezuela Embassy said it could not comment on the volleyball team or its arrival, despite the players believed to be travelling on the Presidential jet.
It's believed the Venezuela ambassador to Australia was considering meeting the team in Perth to speed up their entry to the country.
Even if they arrive, their 21,000 kilometre journey across the world could all be for nothing given they were unlikely to arrive in Canberra until 5.30pm.
Volleyball Australia officials were still waiting for confirmation of the team's arrival time on Saturday night, but it's understood they were trying to track the plane's identification number on the internet.
Venezuela qualified last week for the tournament in Canberra and took an unconventional route to Australia via South Africa because of the late travel arrangements.
The team missed its clash against the Volleyroos on Saturday but is still pencilled in to play in a bronze-medal match at 1pm on Sunday.
Volleyball Australia was considering a proposal to shift the bronze-medal match to 7pm, but the move would require several parties to agree. If the game is not move, the team may arrive in Canberra but not play a game.
The FIVB, the international volleyball body, told Volleyball Australia to cancel the clash on Saturday night.
"We are really hoping the team will make it in time," said Volleyball Australia chief executive Mathieu Meriaux.
"We've been preparing to play the semi-final. We are very disappointed that the game will probably not go ahead [on Saturday night], but we are still hoping they can make it before the bronze-medal game on Sunday."
Australia, Venezuela, Hungary and France are the four teams in the FIVB grand prix group three finals at the AIS Arena.
The bronze medal match will be played at 1pm on Sunday before the grand final at 4pm.
Australia will advance straight to the grand final if Venezuela do not show up, while Hungary and France will square off in the other semi-final.
The Australian team, the Volleyroos, are riding high after breaking through two weeks ago for their first win outside of an Olympic Games since 1982.
