Riot confirms ‘members of several teams’ have tested positive for COVID at Worlds 2022

Right before the 2022 League of Legends World Championship was set to begin today, Riot Games said that “members of several teams” have tested positive for COVID-19.

All participating players and staff are required to undergo regular testing to maintain the safety and health of everyone competing on stage, according to Riot. All of these affected players and teams were not disclosed, but more information was given about the new system in place for any players who contract COVID.

The tournament currently has a policy where isolation facilities have been built for any players who have COVID-19 and feel well enough to compete, which will allow them to play their scheduled matches on a LAN network. Any players who test positive will be in an isolated room, while the rest of the roster will play from the venue. But the order of specific matches is subject to change.

One example comes from the first game of the day between the LEC’s MAD Lions and the LLA’s Isurus Gaming, when fans noticed that Isurus top laner Kang “ADD” Geon-mo, MAD jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla, and MAD AD carry William “UNF0RGIVEN” Nieminen were absent from the stage. Later on, it was confirmed that the three players are playing from isolation.

Fans might notice some missing players as the week rages on, but they’ll likely hope the quality of games isn’t affected. Worlds 2022 will continue from Thursday, Sept. 29 all the way to Saturday, Nov. 5.

Update Sept. 29 4:03pm CT: Fnatic has also confirmed that “multiple members” of the roster have tested positive for COVID and will have all five players compete from isolation vs. Evil Geniuses and Chiefs Esports Club.