A Belorussian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team might miss out on attending the qualifiers for the final Valve Major of the year.
Less than two weeks before the upcoming regional qualifiers for the FaceIt London Valve Major, Belarusian team Nemiga has had its visa application declined by the British embassy. As such, the team will likely unable to attend the tournaments CIS qualifiers, which will be taking place between June 10 to 13.
FaceIt is apparently working on amending the situation, according to Nemiga. FaceIt’s head of esports Roald van Buuren told HLTV that he is “incredibly disappointed” in how the British embassy has treated Nemiga. But despite FaceIt’s intervention, the team currently appears to have accepted the very likely possibility that it will not attend the competition.
Nemiga qualified for the CIS Minor on June 3, after placing fifth in the tournament’s closed online qualifier. The team’s final series saw them defeat invited favorites Elements Pro Gaming by a score of 2-1.
As the situation is still ongoing, FaceIt has yet to reveal if it will bring in a replacement team. This may present FaceIt with yet another challenge, however, as multiple countries in the CIS region face stringent visa requirements for travel into the U.K. That means finding a replacement on such short notice may be a tough challenge. As such, the CIS Minor could end up only featuring seven teams in total.
Every Minor tournament taking place ahead of the FaceIt Major will be played in London’s Twickenham Stadium between July 7 to 22.
