S1mple and the rest of NAVI are going to sit out of the BLAST Premier Spring Final in June, one of the final CS:GO events before the switch to Counter-Strike 2, due to visa issues, the tournament organizer announced on May 24.
NAVI had secured their spot in the $425,000 BLAST Premier Spring Final after their fourth to sixth placing at the Spring Groups in January, during which they defeated Complexity in one of the single-elimination gauntlets. Due to NAVI’s withdrawal from the final, Complexity will be the one taking their spot, in accordance with BLAST’s rule 7.1.3.2.2 of the 2023 rulebook.
“If it’s a team that qualified directly from the Groups then the runner-up from the Last Chance portion of the Groups would be invited,” the rule says. The BLAST Premier Spring Final will be played from June 7 to 11 in Washington, D.C. The NAVI roster is comprised of four Ukrainians and two Russians, and with the Russo-Ukrainian war still happening, the conflict is likely the reason for the visa issues.
The news that NAVI are out of the BLAST Premier Spring Final also comes one day after CIS insider Russian insider John Knyaziev reported that the Ukrainian organization is set to part ways with head coach Andrij “B1ad3” Ghorodensjkyj and young player Andrij “npl” Kukharsjkyj following a disappointing BLAST Paris Major, where they didn’t make the playoffs.
Missing the BLAST Premier Spring Final gives NAVI enough time to evaluate its CS:GO lineup ahead of the flagship ESL event IEM Cologne at the end of July and the potential switch to CS2 that is set to come after CS2 releases worldwide this summer.
