Brazil will no longer hold the next CSGO major event. At least for now. After being postponed for seven months, ESL One Rio has officially been cancelled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The 16th world championship was going to take place at the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, in November. The official announcement was made by ESL and Valve this past week. From what has been said, the major will return to Brazil when it is safe.
Even without a defined date, the tickets that were purchased will remain valid for the future. For those who do not want to wait, it is possible to request a refund of the amounts paid.
Despite no details, the expectation is that the Regional Major Ranking (RMR) will remain active. These tournaments are a series of events that distribute points to define the 24 participants. In the official statement, ESL stressed that ESL One New York will still distribute RMR points. Valve, meanwhile, said it would only re-brand majors after “RMR LAN events are safe around the world”.
Decision expected by the Community
The cancellation of ESL One Rio was already expected by the local and international community. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, no major CS:GO events have been held in person. The expectation of ESL itself was to return to the lans last month, with ESL One Cologne. This month, with an ESL Pro League, but the two competitions known for the internet.
The return to on-site attendance for the organizer will be at the IEM Global Challenge. Scheduled to take place between December 15th and 20th, in Cologne, Germany. The competition will feature the top eight teams from Europe and North America.
With this cancellation, 2020 will be the first year in which we will not have a CS:GO Major. These championships started in 2013. In a year without a pandemic, in the Spring and Autumn these Majors would take place. Amid the pandemic, the event was rescheduled from May to November. However, Brazil continues to face serious problems with the Coronavirus. One of the reasons for the cancellation is the potential for transmission of the virus in Brazil, which is experiencing the peak of the pandemic.
In 2019 in the city of Berlin, the last Counter Strike Global Offensive Major took place. Several ESL events have been canceled or postponed due to the pandemic. Also in March, Major de Dota 2 was postponed, and this was applied to other games, including CS:GO.
Featured Image: ESL
