Black Sox ‘seeking advice’ after Venezuela’s Softball World Cup champion pitcher Maiker Pimentel fails doping test
Wednesday, 20 August 2025
This story was originally published on The Post.
A remarkable upgrade for the Black Sox to men’s Softball World Cup champions could be in play if an “apparent’’ anti-doping violation by Venezuela’s gold medal pitcher is upheld.
Maiker Pimentel pitched Venezuela to a 3-0 win over the New Zealand men’s team in July’s World Cup final in Canada.
But the 28-year-old World Cup MVP has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid.
The International Testing Agency (ITA) - which leads the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) anti-doping programme, reported that a sample collected from Pimentel on July 12 - a day before the grand final at Prince Albert - had returned an “apparent adverse analytical finding’’ of four metabolites of the prohibited substance stanozolol.
It said stanozolol is a synthetic anabolic steroid that promotes lean muscle growth and enhances strength. It is a non-specified substance, prohibited in and out of competition.
The ITA said on its website that the Venezuelan - whose full name is Maiker Josue Pimentel Sivira - had been informed of the case and the right to request analysis of his B sample.
If the B sample analysis is requested and confirms the result of the A-sample, the case will be considered “a confirmed anti-doping rule violation”.
If Pimentel does not request a B sample analysis, the case would also go ahead as a confirmed anti-doping rule violation, the ITA said.
Pimentel would have the opportunity to present his explanations for the result. He also has the right to challenge the provisional suspension and ask for it to be lifted.
Stanozolol has been banned by sports authorities since 1974. The most famous breach came in 1988 when Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was disqualified and stripped of his 100m gold medal at the Seoul Olympics for testing positive to stanozolol.
Under WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) rules, athletes testing positive to the substance can potentially face a four-year sanction.
Pimentel’s provisional suspension raises the issue of whether Venezuela could be stripped of its first World Cup gold medal if the violation is confirmed and whether the Black Sox will be declared champions.
Softball New Zealand board chair Hoani Lambert told The Post it had been made aware of the positive doping test.
“We are in the process of seeking advice to inform [the] next possible steps. We are not in a position to make further comment at this stage.”
If the Black Sox are ultimately awarded gold, it would be their eighth world title.
Pimentel pitched Venezuela to a 7-2 win over the Black Sox in pool play before shutting them out in the final.
He pitched 34 innings across six games, posting a 4-1 record with a 2.88 ERA. He led the tournament in wins (4) and strikeouts (58).
Nineteen of those strikeouts came against the Black Sox. Pimentel fanned 10 Kiwi batters for six hits (including home runs to New Zealand captain Cole Evans and Thomas Enoka) in the pool game, and struck out nine in the grand final for one hit, to Evans in the first inning.
He was hailed after the final for bravery in returning to close out the game after hobbling off in the fifth inning with an apparent hamstring tweak.
Pimentel also went to the World Games tournament in Chengdu, China this month. He pitched Venezuela to a 3-2 win over Argentina, taking 10 strikeouts, in the opening round on August 6.
But the ITA confirmed his suspension the same day and he took no further part in the tournament. Venezuela shared the bronze medal with Canada after the finals day was rained out.
If Pimentel’s suspension is upheld, the WBSC will face one of the biggest decisions in its history.
There is no precedent in world softball of a team being penalised for an individual’s doping test violation.
The first men’s softballer banned for a doping offence at world championships was United States pitcher Doug Middleton, who was banned for two years after testing positive to an anabolic steroid at the 2004 tournament in Christchurch. But USA finished fourth there so the breach did not affect the medals standings.
Few team sports are as dependent on one individual athlete as softball where pitchers are the dominant figure.
Stripping Venezuela of its first gold medal would be tough on the other players, particularly retiring catcher Rafael Flores, 42, a silver medallist in Auckland in 2013 and a bronze medallist in 2015.
While there is no softball precedent, it has been commonplace at Olympic Games level to see medals stripped from teams for individual athlete’s doping rules breaches.
One of the most famous came at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 when the Jamaican men’s 4x100m relay team - including superstar sprinter Usain Bolt - were stripped of their gold medals after teammate Nesta Carter tested positive.
The prosecution of Pimentel’s case is being “handed entirely by the ITA”, it said on its website.
“Given that the case is underway, there will be no further comments made.”