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ESL One Birmingham 2024 (Source: ESL)
With 1win also facing Visa issues, it seems the entire esports community are on the same boat. ESL One Birmingham is all set to start in just a few weeks and 1win has now been replaced by OG as the next qualifying team for the Dota 2 tournament.
The update regarding the change came a few hours ago where ESL one told that 1win had missed the extended deadline for securing a Visa to visit Birmingham for the tournament. “Despite extending the visa deadline to 12:00 CEST yesterday for all teams, 1win were unable to field an eligible roster in time for ESL one Birmingham 2024 due to visa issues,” ESL wrote in their statement.
The organizer further revealed that the next eligible team from Eastern Europe Closed Qualifiers is also facing similar issues, giving the second-best team from Western Europe Closed Qualifiers, OG, a chance who confirm they can attend the tournament without any issues.
“The next EEU team in the qualifiers for the slot are also unable to attend for similar reasons. The next eligible team to be invited will be OG, which came in second at the WEU qualifiers and have already confirmed their ability to enter the UK,” the organizer further stated.
The situation gets heated as 1win accuses ESL of unfair treatment
Responding to the ESL’s statement regarding the situation, 1win also issued a part of their story. Coach for 1win, Achilles issues a statement claiming that ESL have given their slot to OG while the team have their Visa ready for the tournament.
While more of the story is yet to be revealed, for the time being, 1win claims the issue is unfair and a detailed explanation on the matter will be provided soon by them.
— 1win esports (@1winesports) April 9, 2024
If the team had their Visa ready before the deadline, it would undoubtedly be an issue on the side of ESL. However, the team haven’t denied missing the extended deadline yet. If they did miss the deadline and got the Visas a few hours later, it’s hard to imagine ESL bending the rules for one team.