According to a recent HLTV report, ESL is considering two options for organizing the ESL One Cologne in late August – either to host it online by dividing it into regional subdivisions or, if the conditions are favourable, a LAN tournament at a studio in Cologne.
However, due to the travel restrictions prevalent across the world as a result of the pandemic, organizing a LAN tournament will certainly be troublesome. The report mentions that an ESL source has assured fans, “If it’s possible to run a LAN event, it will be a LAN event.” With certain countries starting to lift the lockdowns and ease the travel restrictions, the possibility is still existent.
The problems which may arise for ESL in organizing the LAN tournament will include the troubles of every single one of the 24 participating teams getting a visa. ESL One Cologne being a global tournament will feature teams from across various parts of the world, with different sorts of travel restrictions and consequently visa issues.
ESL will have to consider all the variables in a delicate manner so as to not make any team be unable to join the tournament for the aforementioned reasons. Besides, there’s still always the choice of just moving back to an online format to prevent any extra hassles.
It was only earlier this week that ESL had announced the news of the much-anticipated ESL Pro League Season 12 making a return in early September which is set to be played on LAN. After that, the reassuring announcement of the possibility of ESL One Cologne to be played on a studio is certain to bring excitement among hardcore CSGO enthusiasts.
