Professional League of Legends player Marcel “Dexter” Feldkamp was sitting in an airport terminal in Washington last night on his way to join up with team Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) in California.
Feldkamp, hailing from Germany, had been named CLG’s newest member just last month. His team will have to carry on without him, though, as Feldkamp was arrested and is now being sent back to Germany with a denied Visa.
Feldkamp’s Twitter feed documents a series of unfortunate events: “Just had the worst traveling experience ever. 2 flights delayed + luggage lost and im getting searched? Hope i wont have to spend the night.”
Things went from bad to worsesometime afterwards, as Feldkamp was apparently arrested and his Visa has been cancelled. His tweets leave no question about his status, “On my way Home again for nothing… Literally the worst experience in my life. Homeland security doesnt Fuck around.”
Visa got cancelled. On my way Home again for nothing
— Marcel Feldkamp (@MarcelFeldkamp) January 3, 2014
Feldkamp’s team, CLG, immediately began tweeting to calm fans.
“Unsure at this point what our options are… We don’t know why he got denied or how long till he can come back yet. His athlete visa needs to be approved before he comes back however.”
CLG’s General Manager also released a statement via OnGamers:
“Though Dexter’s athlete visa is in progress, it hasn’t been approved yet. He had documentation to come to the US legally through a visa waiver, but was still denied access to an extent and for reasons still unknown… We assume he was turned away due to the assumption he was attempting to enter the US and obtain work illegally, so this ruling greatly disappoints us if it is in fact true.”
In the meantime, CLG will likely have to get a substitute until Feldkamp can work out a way to get back into the country. With the season just weeks away, they will have to scramble. One possible option is Brian “TrickZ” Ahn, who played with CLG on at trial basis at Intel’s Extreme Masters tournament in Cologne during the offseason, but was not offered a roster spot.
The U.S. began issuing athlete visas to professional gamers in July 2013. In December, StarCraft 2 pro Kim “Violet” Dong became the highest-profile player to be approved for one of the visas.
Photo via dexter1lol/Facebook
