ESL reportedly wants to host a CS:GO Major in Rio de Janeiro this year

ESL is actively planning to organize a CS:GO Major in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2022, according to a report by Dexerto.

The IEM Rio Valve Major would be the second Valve-sponsored event of the year and would run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 13 if confirmed. ESL was due to organize a CS:GO Major in Rio in 2020, but it was delayed and later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw every big CS:GO event move from the traditional LAN setup to online play as a result of the global health situation and travel restrictions employed by countries around the world.

Today’s report from Dexerto comes months after ESL revealed that a Major in Rio de Janeiro was under consideration with Valve for 2022. The last CS:GO Major organized by ESL took place between February and March 2020 at IEM Katowice. The tournament operator was responsible for six tournaments of this caliber over the years, but the last two Majors were run by StarLadder and PGL.

HLTV reported in May 2021 that Valve was targeting to sponsor two Majors in 2022 and 2023. The first Major of the year is set to take place from May 9 to 22 but its tournament organizer has not been revealed yet.

Should Valve sanction ESL’s plans to hold the Fall CS:GO Major in Rio de Janeiro, it would be Brazil’s first Valve-sponsored tournament. The biggest CS:GO events held in the country were ESL Pro League season four in 2016 and ESL One Belo Horizonte in 2018.