Na`Vi won’t attend IEM Sydney 2018 but the replacement is ready
Na`Vi is one of the most professional teams in the world of e-sports, and it is regrettable to hear that they cannot be in the big tournament IEM Sydney 2018.
Natus Vincere may be forced to skip IEM Sydney due to visa issues, the organization’s CEO has revealed.
On Twitter, Yevhen “HarisPilton” Zolotarov wrote that four of the team’s members – presumably Aleksandr “s1mple”Kostyliev, Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko, Ioann “Edward” Sukharievand coach Mikhaylo “Kane” Blagin – have not yet been granted visas to enter Australia, with their first match taking place in less than 72 hours.
Earlier in the week, the Na`Vi CEO had revealed that Denis “electronic” Sharipov, Egor “flamie” Vasilyev and team manager Yevgeniy “ugin” Yerofeyev were the only ones with everything sorted out, but remained hopeful that the rest of the squad would secure traveling visas in time for the event.
“The organisers can no longer wait. I am afraid there is no chance,” Mr. Zolotarov added.
Natus Vincere has been drawn in Group B, alongside the likes of fnatic, Astralis and mousesports. They are due to face MVP PK in their first match in the competition
Visa complications have caused Na`Vi and Space Soldiers to withdraw from IEM Sydney. G2 and Legacy replaced the two teams at the $250,000 tournament.
Despite applying for visas weeks ago, not all of Na`Vi’s and Space Soldiers’ players have been able to secure the documents necessary to travel to Australia, which forced the two teams to withdraw from IEM Sydney.
ESL have replaced the two teams with G2, who finished 3rd-4th in the European closed qualifier, and local side Legacy, who placed fourth in the Oceania closed qualifier.
The group brackets at the $250,000 tournament have not been altered, as the French side directly replaced Na`Vi in Group B, while Legacy took Space Soldiers’ place in Group A.
“We have just confirmed that both Natus Vincere and Space Soldiers will drop from IEM Sydney 2018 due to VISA complications. We know that both teams were looking forward to travelling to Australia to compete and meet their international fan base” IEM Product Manager, Shaun Clark, said in a statement.
“In both cases, not all of their teams roster were granted visas and with the long travel time to Australia and the event set to begin on Tuesday, we had to make the call in order to protect the tournament and still find suitable replacements. With this decision we are incredibly thankful to G2 Esports & Legacy Esports to join as replacements on such short notice.”
“We have just confirmed that both Natus Vincere and Space Soldiers will drop from IEM Sydney 2018 due to VISA complications. We know that both teams were looking forward to travelling to Australia to compete and meet their international fan base“ said Shaun Clark, Product Manager Intel® Extreme Masters.“In both cases, not all of their teams roster were granted visas and with the long travel time to Australia and the event set to begin on Tuesday, we had to make the call in order to protect the tournament and still find suitable replacements. With this decision we are incredibly thankful to G2 Esports & Legacy Esports to join as replacements on such short notice.“
The groups now are the following:
| Group A | Group B |
| FaZe | mousesports |
| Cloud9 | fnatic |
| SK | G2 |
| Legacy | Astralis |
| Renegades | NRG |
| TyLoo | MVP PK |
| Grayhound | Chiefs |
| ORDER | B.O.O.T-d[S] |
IEM Sydney will run on May 1-6, with the first three days reserved for the group stage. G2 will face MVP PK in the first round, while Legacy will take on Renegades.
