FalleN on IEM Rio Major: It's going to be the biggest esports tournament in history
The legendary AWPer has high hopes for the upcoming Major.
The much-awaited CS:GO championship IEM Rio Major is right around the corner, with the Brazilian metropole of Rio de Janeiro being the host city. The $1.25 Million tournament will make history as it’s set to be the first Major held outside of Europe and the United States.
One of the biggest CS:GO stars, and arguably the most famous Brazilian player in history, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo also has huge expectations for the upcoming tournament later this month. In a recent interview with Dust2.us, FalleN states that it will be “the biggest esports tournament we have ever seen”.
- The Major in Rio, it's a celebration for Brazilian Counter-Strike. We have been doing so many good things for the past 23 years I would say, that's more time than I have been playing, there are older people than me there. Brazilians have been passionate about CS for a long time. Since the Cyber Cup days when we are playing against neighborhoods and all those things, now there's a chance for everyone to cheer for the Brazilian players and celebrate the best players in the world going there. It's going to be the biggest esports tournament we have ever seen, I'm sure about that.
75.000 fans in one stadium
Earlier this year, FalleN also said that he believed that the Rio Major could attract at least 75.000 fans to a stadium due to the massive support from the Brazilian community.
- You can easily fill a stadium with 75.000 people to watch the Rio Major. I can guarantee you that a 75.000 Major event in Brazil will be completely doable. Which is insane – I don’t think there is any country that could do that this way. I think this will be the best Major ever. For every Brazilian player, this is the moment to peak, this is where you have to be. You got to find a way to be there because I think that would be a dream come true for all Brazilians to be able to play in front of a crowd like that.
You can read the entire interview by Liam "slevo" Slevin and Dust2.us down below.
IEM Rio Major is set to run from October 31 - November 13 and will feature 24 teams in total.
