Due to COVID-19 regulations, TYLOO has withdrawn their slot at the play-in stage of IEM Katowice 2022.
CHINA — IEM Katowice 2022 will take place from February 15-27 in the Spodek Arena Katowice, Poland, with 24 teams vying for the lion’s share of the US$1,000,000 prize pool. The team list was set, with TYLOO representing Asia after placing first in the Road to Katowice rankings, but it has now been announced that the Chinese-Indonesian team will not attend the event.
According to ESL, Team Spirit and forZe were initially offered as a replacement but were unable to provide proof of visa eligibility to enter Poland at the time of invite. Ultimately, Sprout will serve as the team’s replacement as the next in line as a possible replacement from the ESL Pro Tour standings.
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(Photo courtesy of HLTV)
On Weibo, the Chinese organization revealed that Europe at the present does not completely recognize the vaccinations the players have, therefore requiring the squad to undergo a two-week-long quarantine if they persist in attending the prestigious event. The quarantine situation will be “difficult to maintain a good competitive state”.
Additionally, the situation does not account for the possibility of a travel ban due to the spread of the new COVID-19 variant, as was the case with ViCi Gaming, Elephant, Invictus Gaming, and other Asian Dota 2 teams that were stuck in Romania after participating at The International 10 as a result of flight restrictions from Romania and China, as well as lengthy quarantine procedures.
The Play-In stage of IEM Katowice will feature 16 teams, with Sprout from Germany replacing TYLOO, set on competing for eight slots at the group stage. The teams for IEM Katowice’s Play-In stage currently look as follows:
| 🇸🇪 NiP | 🇪🇺 Sprout |
| 🇩🇰 Astralis | 🇧🇷 MIBR |
| 🇪🇺 FaZe | 🇪🇺 MOUZ |
| 🇧🇷 GODSENT | 🇬🇧 Fnatic |
| 🇦🇺 Renegades | 🇪🇺 OG |
| 🇩🇪 BIG | 🇺🇸 Extra Salt |
| 🇪🇺 ENCE | 🇷🇺 Entropiq |
| 🇩🇰 Copenhagen Flames | 🇵🇱 Wisla Krakow |
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Cover photo courtesy of HLTV
