1win provides their side of story following ESL’s decision regarding Dota 2 Major spot

Following the accusations of unfair treatment, 1win have now released an official statement regarding the recent decision from ESL to hand their spot at ESL One Birmingham to OG, citing Visa issues and delay.

Here’s the full timeline as described by 1win -

The team did acknowledge that they initially had a delay in getting their Visas. As per 1win, they started prepping to apply for a Visa the day after qualification in January. After an invitation from ESL, the team applied for a Visa at the consulate on February 15.

ESL assigned April 5 as the deadline for submission of visa data. By the time, the Visas for 1win were supposed to be there. In order to confirm their participation, the British Consulate contacted ESL on March 27, however, the connection broke down and caused a one-week delay from the side of ESL for confirmation to the British Consulate.

Following that, 1 win received a confirmation regarding Ahilles’ Visa on late night April 5, by the time the organizer then extended the deadline to April 8. However, here was the main issue, the deadline extension was on a weekend when the Consulate was closed, leading to a delay in printing the team’s Visa.

As per 1win, they asked for a short extension for a few hours as the team applied as one and were ready to provide Visa confirmation details for Achilles. Two hours after the deadline, the team was notified of the exclusion and two more hours later they received their Visas.

Exclusion Justified?

While there was a few hours delay for the team getting Visas, it was originally caused by ESL as per their statement. ESL haven’t responded on the matter yet, on the other side, the community is also in a bind. The delay did cause the team issues, however, there was a window to get those Visas.

Few people claim that 1win’s argument is justified considering it is a $1 million Dota 2 tournament, while others say they had time to get Visas and confirm their spot.