ESL shed some light on the reasoning behind hosting the Americas RMR for the IEM CS:GO Major in Stockholm, Sweden and not somewhere more appropriate for attending teams, like North or South America.
The main reason behind this decision comes down to visa issues, which have frequently forced tournament organizers to change their plans at the last minute or make comprehensives for events.”[We] had to move it when it became clear that due to current waiting times for visa appointments many SA players would not get visa in time,” Ulrich Schulze, the senior vice president of product at ESL wrote on Twitter today.
Schulze added that the company originally had planned to host the event in the United States but had to change its plans due to visa issues. ESL looked for “a location that would work on short notice” and ended up choosing Stockholm, Sweden from Oct. 4 to 9.
On Aug 23, ESL announced the dates and locations for the RMR tournaments, which contrary to the PGL Antwerp CS:GO Major, will run simultaneously. The Asia and Europe RMR events will be played in Malta and Australia, respectively.
At the Americas RMR, a total of sixteen teams will fight for six spots at the upcoming IEM Rio Major. So far, eight squads have qualified for the event, including Team Liquid, FURIA, Imperial Esports, and MIBR. Eight more will join them in the coming days.
