OSLO, Norway (AP) — A planned news conference on Tuesday by Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado was canceled after a several-hour delay, a day before the award ceremony in Oslo.
Machado, who last appeared in public 11 months ago, had been due to hold a traditional news conference the day before the formal award ceremony. But the lunchtime event was delayed without explanation, until the Norwegian Nobel Institute said three hours after the scheduled time that “it will not take place today.”
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The Venezuelan opposition's presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election, Edmondo Gonzales, center, at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP)
Ana Corina Sosa, center, daughter of Nobel peace prize laureate Maria Machados, arrives at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, file)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado displays vote tally sheets during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro one month after the disputed presidential vote which she says the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
FILE - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
“María Corina Machado has herself stated in interviews how challenging the journey to Oslo, Norway, will be,” the institute said in an email. "We therefore cannot at this point provide any further information about when and how she will arrive for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony."
The institute did not specify whether the news conference would take place at a later point.
Machado’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about the opposition leader’s location and planned attendance at Wednesday’s ceremony.
The 58-year-old’s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on Oct. 10, and she was described as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
Machado won the opposition’s primary election and intended to run against President Nicolás Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place.
The lead-up to the July 28, 2024, election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. That increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.
González sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest.
Meanwhile, Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. The following day, Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term.
The Venezuelan opposition's presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election, Edmondo Gonzales, center, at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP)
Ana Corina Sosa, center, daughter of Nobel peace prize laureate Maria Machados, arrives at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, file)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado displays vote tally sheets during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro one month after the disputed presidential vote which she says the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
FILE - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua thinks there's a simple solution to politicking for College Football Playoff spots: expansion.
He was still upset Tuesday about the selection committee's decision to bypass the Fighting Irish from the 12-team playoff field and the public campaigning by the Atlantic Coast Conference to get full-time league member Miami a spot. He then called a 16-team format the perfect number.
“It should be 16 teams in my opinion, with five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large teams,” Bevacqua said as he fielded questions for nearly 40 minutes. “What I like about 16 is it creates more opportunity, more narratives around schools and yet it preserves the integrity and importance of the regular season.”
Bevacqua did not back off the complaints that have permeated college football ever since the CFP participants were revealed Sunday.
He still thinks the committee should be more transparent with its selection process to ensure schools, coaches, players and fans know how decisions are made and where they actually stand in the rankings. He also reiterated that ACC's actions have created “real damage” with Notre Dame.
But two days after Notre Dame decided to skip the bowl season altogether, he also tempered his words.
“I would tell you, at this point, we haven’t given all that a ton of thought,” Bevacqua said when asked what he expects the ACC to do next. “Are we looking for an apology? Quite frankly, I don’t think an apology does much of anything or unwinds what has happened. But we'll, at the right time, sit down with the ACC leadership and I think hopefully have a very frank, honest, productive conversation. But that time is not now.
“All things can be healed. I’m not going to be overly dramatic here, right?” he added later. "But it strained the relationship.”
Big 12 Conference Commissioner Brett Yormark, speaking at the Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum in Las Vegas, criticized Bevacqua and Notre Dame.
“I didn't like Notre Dame's response,” Yormark said. “I think it was very egregious. I think (Bevacqua) was totally out of bounds, and if he was in the room, I'd tell him the same thing. You have to accept it.”
Bevacqua said he was texting with ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips last week after the conference began what he considered a second round of campaigning on behalf of Miami.
The league had been clear it was in steady communication with the CFP committee, supplying data that made the case for its teams leading up to the selection show. The ESPN-partnered ACC Network also repeatedly showed a replay of the season-opening Notre Dame-Miami game last week — including four times on Thursday’s schedule and five more on Friday.
Miami beat Notre Dame 27-24 on a last-second field goal, a head-to-head result that clearly had an impact on the committee.
“I charged the committee members to go back and watch that game,” CFP selection committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said. “We got some interesting debate on what that game looked like. With that in mind, we gave Miami the nod over Notre Dame into that 10 spot.”
Phillips made no apologies for what transpired, either.
On Monday, he issued a statement calling Notre Dame an “incredibly valued” member of the ACC while also saying the league had a responsibility to advocate for its 17 football-playing league members. ACC officials declined to make any additional comments Tuesday.
“I stand behind our conference efforts to do just that leading up to the College Football Playoff Committee selections on Sunday,” Phillips said. “At no time was it suggested by the ACC that Notre Dame was not a worthy candidate for inclusion in the field. We are thrilled for the University of Miami while also understanding and appreciating the significant disappointment of the Notre Dame players, coaches and program.”
Bevacqua said there was no ill will between the schools, noting he congratulated Miami’s athletic director in a text message Tuesday night, while also citing a stat that showed when Notre Dame plays at other ACC stadiums, 90% of the games are sold out compared with 23% of other ACC contests.
What continues to bother Bevacqua and the Irish, though, is that Notre Dame was sitting in playoff position every week — until the final poll — on a weekend that neither team played.
“It’s something that has to be fixed," Bevacqua said. “We take this very seriously at Notre Dame. (Coach) Marcus Freeman takes this very seriously. Like I said, this can’t be a game of musical chairs at a fifth-grade birthday party. That’s what it felt like this was.”
A repeat is not likely to happen in the future because of a provision that takes effect next season assuring Notre Dame of a playoff spot if it finishes in the top 12. But to Bevacqua, that's not a good enough solution for everyone else.
He thinks it's time for another expansion.
“Sixteen would have been perfect,” he said. "I think 16 teams with that five-(automatic qualifiers)-and-11 breakdown is the way to go.”
AP Sports Writers Mark Anderson and Aaron Beard contributed to this report.
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FILE - Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (4) carries the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
