Riot Announces Format Changes To League Of Legends 2020 Worlds
Reports have surfaced that suggest that the two Vietnamese representatives of the Vietnam Championship Series who qualify for the League of Legends World Championships 2020 will not attend due to coronavirus precautions. The two sides that qualify would reportedly not be able to reenter Vietnam after competing in Shanghai, due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to ESPN.
This news comes after the Riot Games announced that the World Championships will be hosted in Shanghai, in a bubble environment at Pudong Football Stadium, akin to the NBA and NFL. Various regions have been forced to play their qualifiers online, such as Europe and North America, and recently South Korea switched to online for the Playoffs due to a spike in cases.
Immigration for the World championships has proven to be a huge obstacle this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, for instance, should SK Gaming have qualified through the LEC, their main jungler, Kim "Trick" Gang-Yun's passport would have deemed him ineligible to travel to Shanghai. This new hurdle will undoubtedly not be Riot Games' last before the Worlds kick off on September 25.
The VCS is nearly drawn to a conclusion, with Team Flash having secured their ticket by beating GAM Esports in the Winners' Final, and will wait to see who they will face in the Grand Final. The winners of the Losers' Final between GAM Esports and EVOS Esports will determine who will join Team Flash in the Grand Final and a place at the World Championships.
GAM Esports could secure their third World Championship appearance in four years, after finishing 13-16th place in 2019, and ninth-11th place in 2017. Of course, only if they attend.
Click to enlargeDirector of Operations for Riot Esports, Tom Martell, released a statement confirming the changes to Worlds 2020's format, saying:
"Earlier this month we shared with you our plans for Worlds, but due to national travel restrictions related to COVID-19, our two qualifying teams from Vietnam will unfortunately be unable to travel to Shanghai to compete this season.
"Over the past several weeks, we explored every possible option to include VCS teams while ensuring the safety of VCS players and the delivery of a world class event. VCS teams and VCS fans have been an irreplaceable fixture of Worlds, but in consideration of current circumstances, we have made the difficult decision to proceed without them this year. We look forward to seeing them next year, knowing that Vietnam will be that much more passionate to bring home a World Championship title.
"As a result of these changes, we will have 22 rather than 24 teams challenging for the championship title this year.
"We are incredibly disappointed on behalf of these teams who worked so hard all year for the chance to compete on the global stage. While it certainly will not replace the experience for them, we will be awarding them their full share of the prize pool as though they had participated in the event."
The full confirmed update about the format going forward for Worlds 2020 can be found here.
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Images via Riot Games
