Oceanic powerhouse Renegades announced via a video on Twitter earlier today that they would not be participating in the 14th season of ESL Pro League. The tournament is set to take place in the online format; hence every team needs to be present in Europe to participate.
This has been an issue for the past year where all the non-EU teams, i.e. the ones from North America and Oceania are required to boot camp in Europe to be able to compete with the best.
Earlier this month, the Australian government imposed new restrictions regarding travel amid the rise of a new variant and a surge in new cases. Some cities even had to undergo lockdowns for a week to prevent the spread. There has been little relaxation in the restrictions since then, especially regarding international travel.
Thus, the Australians aren’t allowed to travel to Europe and had to withdraw from EPL S14, their place will be taken by CIS side “forZe” in the tournament. Renegades did participate in EPL S13 earlier on in the year, but couldn’t make it past the group stage, as it was an uphill climb facing the best in the world after a year of only playing domestic rivals.
They did do well in the first LAN back though, shocking OG esports and making it to the playoffs ahead of them, and even taking a map off Natus Vincere before eventually being knocked out.
This would hamper their preparations but Joshua “INS” Potter said that they will continue their grind and be ready for the next season of ESEA Premier, and also for the Regional Major Rankings events for a spot at the PGL Stockholm Major at the end of the year.
After the withdrawal of Renegades, Group B for EPL S14 stands as
- G2
- Complexity
- OG
- Virtus Pro
- Sinners
- forZe
