Visa issues resolved for 12 teams in the ESL 'CS:GO' Pro League playoffs
The playoffs of ESL's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Pro League Season 4 are approaching, and it looks like the 12 qualifying teams are going to be allowed into Brazil to compete for the $750,000 prize pool.
North American team Cloud9 was the first to qualify and quickly found out that getting a visa to compete was going to take a long time — North American players and talent weren't going to be permitted to enter the country until after the finals concluded.
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Cloud9's founder and CEO Jack Etienne asked the public for help on Twitter, and tournament organizer ESL released a statement saying that it was helping the affected teams and talent get their visas in a more timely manner. A spokesperson for ESL confirmed to Mashable on Monday that everyone would have their visas on time.
Players and talent alike were afraid that they weren't going to be able to make it to the playoffs, which are the culmination of nine weeks of online competition. That's a lot of time invested in a tournament only to be barred from playing in the playoffs.
@C9Jack it's a pretty inexplicable oversight on their part. I'm almost 100% not going at this point. 🙃
— Sadokist! (@Sadokist) October 8, 2016
@C9Jack You're not alone :(. I submitted mine awhile ago and was told it won't be ready until well after the Pro League finals.
— Heather [sapphiRe] (@sapphiReCSGO) October 8, 2016
In the North American division, Cloud9, Immortals, SK Gaming, OpTic Gaming, NRG Esports and Team Liquid qualified for the playoffs alongside European teams Fnatic, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Mousesports, FaZe Clan, Team EnVyUs and Team Dignitas.
Cloud9, OpTic Gaming, NRG Esports and Team Liquid have issues with their visas because of Brazil's reciprocal visa policy, meaning the country only requires visas if those people's home country requires visas from Brazil's citizens (which includes the U.S. and Canada). The European teams and two Brazilian teams were not affected.
Selfless coach Ryu tweeted that Brazil was chosen as the spot for the finals during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio when travel was unrestricted.
@SileNtCSGO @Sadokist @C9Jack not sure if true, but it was apparently looked into during Rio Olympics, travel was unrestricted then. 😐
— Ryu (@SelflessRyu) October 8, 2016
The ESL Pro League Season 4 playoffs run Oct. 28-30 in São Paulo, Brazil, where the 12 remaining teams will be split into two groups and compete for a spot in the finals.
Group A:
Fnatic
Immortals
Mousesports
OpTic Gaming
Team EnVyUs
Team Liquid
Group B:
Cloud9
Ninjas in Pyjamas
SK Gaming
FaZe Clan
NRG Esports
Team Dignitas
