Benched Heroes down an active CS:GO player in Europe RMR due to visa issues

Evgeniy “Aunkere” Karyat, the Russian CS:GO player who helped Benched Heroes qualify for the IEM Rio Major Europe Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournament, will not attend the competition in Malta due to visa issues.

“I just was told that I need to announce I’m not going to the RMR,” Aunkere said in a recent stream, according to Escore News. Benched Heroes, the mix team formed around former BIG and Fnatic AWPer Owen “smooya” Butterfield, was reportedly one of the teams facing difficulties in securing visas for players alongside K23, 1WIN, and Aurora. All of those CS:GO teams have Russian players on their rosters and the European Commission recently tightened visa processing for Russian citizens.

In addition to Aunkere, smooya revealed that Turkish player Buğra “Calyx” Arkın’s visa will be approved or denied tomorrow. Smooya said ESL has gone radio silent about whether or not Benched Heroes are allowed to use emergency substitutes.

Benched Heroes are allowed to use their substitute, Thomas Utting, in place of Aunkere during the Europe RMR, according to the IEM Rio Major RMR rules. But if another one of their players has to miss the tournament, it’s unclear what ESL and Valve would do. At the moment, the rules imply that a team would have to withdraw from the tournament if multiple players can’t play. Illuminar are the next team in line in case Benched Heroes have to forfeit.

Benched Heroes will compete in the Europe RMR B, which will run from Oct. 4 to 9, against Natus Vincere, ENCE, Heroic, Vitality, BIG, Falcons, MOUZ, OG, K23, Monte, Sangal, Fantasy, SAW, and HEET for eight IEM Rio Major spots.