Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Oceania representatives ORDER and Chiefs will no longer participate in the VCT North America (NA) Last Chance Qualifier in Los Angeles, California.
No OCE at VCT NA Last Chance Qualifier
Riot Games announced earlier today via Twitter that the Valorant Oceania Tour representatives, ORDER, and Chiefs Esports will not be participating at the North America (NA) Last Chance Qualifier. Riot’s announcement stated that “COVID-19 regulations, travel documentation issues, and additional complex factors” were the reasons behind this decision.
The two Australian teams were scheduled to compete against eight of North America’s best Valorant teams for a single slot to the season’s esports’ final event, Valorant Champions. Both teams were expected to fly out to the United States and compete in Valorant Champions Los Angeles.
Reasons behind it all
Dexerto writer Andrew “Ducky” Amos revealed in a series of tweets that a team owner from the Valorant Oceania Tour shared in a public discord server that it is possible that individuals from Riot Games:
- “Apparently didn’t even look at booking flights until last week.” (Last week of September – first weekend of October)
- “Didn’t apply for travel exemptions until a few days ago.”
- “Were not aware of the border policy.”
Not the first time
Filipino and Southeast Asian Valorant fans will know that this issue seems a little too familiar. A week before Masters Berlin, SEA’s number one seed BREN Esports failed to travel to Berlin reportedly due to similar reasons. The ongoing global pandemic certainly makes esports and life in general “normal again” challenging to achieve.
The NA Last Chance Qualifier has been reformatted to an eight-team single-elimination bracket involving the remaining teams. It will be held from October 12th to 17th. Stay tuned for more official details on the event to be revealed in the future.
