Following the departure of two key players, Swedish side Team Global has withdrawn from one of the year’s premier Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments, just two days before it was set to begin.
It’s a rough time to be Team Global. A month prior, sponsor Let the Games Begin had dropped its funding of the team. And despite reports that Team Global was having negotiations with other potential sponsors, including rumors that the players would join SK Gaming, nothing happened.
This instability causes team member Dennis Edman to leave, citing a desire to focus on a full-time job away from the game. The Swedes struggled to find an appropriate replacement for Edman with Dreamhack Summer in Jonkoping, Sweden then less than two weeks away.
Eventually, Team Global did find a temporary replacement. But things shortly went from bad to worse on Thursday, when Freddy “Krimz” Johansson announced that he too would be leaving. Johansson blamed his departure on his sagging motivation following the team’s struggles in finding a sponsor, as well as Edman’s departure.
Events came to a head when the remaining Team Global members announced they would drop out of Dreamhack Summer on Thursday.
Fans of the team were understandably disappointed. Since taking on the Let the Games Begin banner in late 2013, the team had posted a string of promising results, most notably finishing in the top four at EMS One Katowice.
The team’s recent form had left something to be desired, however, as they failed to progress to the playoff round of the Faceit Spring league or qualify for the finals of the Hitbox Arena Championship. The higher stakes at Dreamhack seemed to offer a fine opportunity for the team to prove themselves once again, but now they won’t have the opportunity.
The field in Jonkoping remains strong in spite of Team Global’s late withdrawal. The winners of each major event thus far in 2014, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Virtus Pro, will all be in attendance along with other top teams such as Titan, Hell Raisers, and Epsilon.
Play will begin June 14 after the last chance qualifier is played out on Friday.
Screengrab via YouTube
