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On Thursday, ESL announced to the general public that Russian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players can participate in the 2023 Intel Extreme Masters Katowice without any constraints on entering the host country, Poland.
“As of now, there is no local law indicating that any given team or player cannot enter the premises of Poland and, therefore, not participate in the upcoming tournament in Katowice,” ESL’s statement reads. “EFG [ESL FACEIT Group] remains compliant with all international laws and sanctions, and we will continue to monitor and reshape our global and local business strategies to reflect that.”
Prior to this announcement, Russian nationals had been issued a travel ban from entering the shores of Poland due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other neighbouring countries, such as Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, also implemented similar restrictions for the same reason.
The 2023 CS:GO IEM is scheduled to take place in Katowice, Poland, from January 31 to February 12 of next year. About 29 teams from across the world will be competing in the CS:GO event, five of which will receive direct invites.
Although the travel ban on Russian citizens is still in effect, if a Russian citizen owns a visa from another EU country, they will be granted access. Hence, players can enter Poland through the European countries that are part of the Schengen Area. Such nations included Germany, which issues visas to Russian nationals.
This news update has cheered the fan bases of Outsiders, NAVI, OG, Cloud9, and Spirit, as they all have active players in Russia.
