Cavalry boss Donn McMichael said it could also cost them their spot in the 2020-21 ABL season.

All because the government hasn't provided the club with a letter of approval that McMichael has been asking for for the past month.

The state governments for the other five ABL teams have all provided the required document, which allows them to bring overseas players into the country.

Without it a list of recruits including JJ Hoover, Shawn Morimando and Rob Whalen - who have all played in the Majors - were unable to come down under.

Time is of the essence, given the ABL season's set to start December 18.

With all imports required to spend two weeks in hotel quarantine, that means for them to have just one week's training before the season hits off they would need to arrive on November 27 - in just 10 days.

Every day is crucial given it's no longer as simple as booking a plane ticket - two week's quarantine in a hotel's also needed.

"We need this letter. We've been speaking to the ACT government since October 19 and I know the polls weren't declared until October 26," McMichael told The Canberra Times.

"But what we're facing now is not being able to bring in any international players because of the timing and the process required to get them into Australia.

"All other state governments have been able to supply the letter and we're sitting in a holding pattern until we get this.

"They need to be here at the latest November 27 - so we've got 10 days to get this done.

"Seeking approvals in that period of time I would've thought is unlikely."

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The Cavalry have already lost shortstop Licoleeonardo Reginatto, who will now play in Venezuela due to the uncertainty around whether he'd be able to come to Canberra.

Brazilian-born Reginatto made it to AAA-level - one step below the Majors - at both the Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays.

He couldn't afford to wait any longer and McMichael's now in a similar boat with another 10 players.

Hoover, Morimando and Whalen have all spent time playing in "The Show", while Matt Tenuta, Johnny Barbato and the returning Tucker Nathans also made it to AAA.

The return of Cavalry reigning MVP Zach Wilson's also up in the air, while the two Toronto Blue Jays players the MLB club planned to send might also not come.

Costs were also becoming a problem.

While looking into booking Wilson's flights, McMichael found the Sacramento to Sydney flight - which cost $2200 last year - would cost more than $25,000 for November 25.

If they can't come, the Cavalry will have to fill the 10 roster spots with Australians.

The ABL has supplied a list of six players up to league standard, but it's unclear whether any of them would be willing to relocate to the ACT for the season.

If not, then the Cavalry would have to field a team largely made up of Canberra club players.

"I can't see how the Cavalry can operate when we haven't got the international players here," McMichael said.

"We've got 10 imports. To replace them with Australian players - the ABL have been good enough to try and help us, but they've come up with six names and we don't know what their availability is.

"I don't know how we're going to do it."

Meanwhile, the ABL might have to redo their fixture a third time as the coronavirus outbreak in Adelaide throws Australian sport into turmoil.

Last week's withdrawals of Geelong-Korea and the Auckland Tuatara, with the New Zealand team facing the prospect of losing their licence as a result, meant the ABL already had to redo the draw once before this week's scheduled announcement.

They might need to do another one in case the Adelaide Giants were forced to relocate.