PGL says it’s running out of time to organize the CS:GO Major in Stockholm

CS:GO is about to have its first Valve-sponsored event since the StarLadder Berlin Major in September 2019 with the PGL Stockholm Major slated to take place between Oct. 23 to Nov. 11. But the PGL Major might not be held in Sweden, PGL’s CEO Silviu Stroie told the Swedish newspaper SportExpressen today.

“There is no new development, we can decide any day now to move it from Sweden,” Stroie said in an email to SportExpressen, according to a machine translation. “We are still hopeful of getting the exemption we requested to bring in the players, but there has been no indication at all as to whether it will happen or not.”

This news comes less than a month after it was reported that Stockholm was still a priority for the 2021 CS:GO Major. It isn’t a big shock, though, since Valve faced problems organizing The International 10 in the Swedish capital and had to move it to Bucharest, Romania earlier this month, which led to the lucrative Dota 2 event being delayed. That decision was made following a vote by the Swedish government and the Swedish Sports Federation to not accept esports into the sports federation, which made it harder to secure visas for esports players.

The Swedish Esports Association has released a public letter urging authorities to implement changes regarding esports events in the country, according to SportExpressen. “It would contribute to a greatly reduced reputation for arranging major international e-sports tournaments in Sweden,” the association said, according to a machine translation. “With this letter, we want to call on responsible ministers, ministries, and committees to follow up on the promises made and implement the changes required for esports events to be implemented in Sweden.”

The letter has been signed by some Swedish esports personalities, such as Ninjas in Pyjamas’ CEO Hicham Chahine and Alliance’s Dota 2 coach Jonathan “Loda” Berg. The PGL Major will offer a whopping $2 million prize pool since CS:GO didn’t have any Majors last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which forced tournament organizers to host events online.