Several teams may miss out on RMR due to visa issues
Visa difficulties seem to be a lasting problem in competitive Counter-Strike.
According to Dust2.dk, Aurora, K23 and 1WIN are all facing some serious difficulties before the start of the Regional Major Ranking tournament. The media outlet explains that all three teams are experiencing problems with collecting visas for several team members.
The event is in less than two weeks, however, for now, Aurora only has four out of seven visas for their team. 1WIN is in the same boat as they only have visas for two of their players, both parties have told Dust2.dk.
The CIS trio of teams is not the only one facing these issues. The five-man stack Benched Heroes are also in danger of missing the RMR due to Evgeniy "Aunkere" Karyat and Buğra "Calyx" Arkın both having had their visas declined, Aunkere has confirmed.
Stricter guidelines from EU
Two weeks ago EU issued an updated list of guidelines for how to handle visa applications from Russian citizens due to the "heightened security risks the EU is facing following Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine". That includes a longer processing time to decide on visa applications, and also the possibility to deprioritize non-essential travel. You can read the guidelines here.
The European IEM Road to Rio RMR tournament is set to be played in Malta in about two weeks. The LAN event works as the last qualifier before the Major later this year, offering 16 spots for the $1.000.000 main event which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
EU RMR Group A:
FaZe, Team Spirit, Ninjas in Pyjamas, G2, Cloud9, Bad News Eagles.
EU RMR Group B:
NAVI, ENCE, Heroic, Team Vitality, BIG, Outsiders.
The teams will be joined by the qualifiers from the four open qualifiers event.
Qualifiers from 1st open qualifier: Sprout, Team Falcons, MOUZ, Aurora Gaming, and OG
Qualifiers from 2nd open qualifier: Fnatic, K23, forZe, and Monte
Qualifiers from 3rd open qualifier: Eternal Fire, Sangal Esports, B8, FANTASY, ECSTATIC
Qualifiers from 4th open qualifier: SAW, Astralis, HEET, 1win, GamerLegion, Benched Heroes