It’s quite unfortunate, but we’ve received news that the two teams that represent Vietnam won’t be attending the League of Legends World Championship that will start in Shanghai on September 25, 2020.
This is due to very valid concerns of both the players and staff, as there’s a chance that they will have difficulty re-entering Vietnam if they go to China due to COVID-19 precautions.
According to ESPN, Riot is not planning to replace the two Vietnamese teams. In fact, they will continue the championship as planned, but with only 22 teams instead of 24. When asked to comment regarding this situation, Riot did not respond.
As of now, we are unsure how Vietnam’s withdrawal from this event will affect their future seeding at other events. Currently, though, they hold one seed in the main event stage as well as another seed in the play-in stage.
Without a doubt, this pandemic has taken a huge toll on everyone, and it has especially affected esports. For one thing, the Mid-Season Invitational was canceled by Riot Games earlier this year. In line with this, they’re planning to hold the League of Legends World Championship in a bubble environment just like the NBA and NHL due to concerns about the coronavirus.
It’s also worth noting that many of the Championship Series were done online since March due to the rise of COVID-19 cases. Understandably, immigration has been a key concern regarding the championship, especially since Riot Games has been working hard alongside the Chinese government to find a safe way for the participants to enter China.
That being said, entering the country is one thing, but leaving it is a completely different concern.
