Falcons Withdraw from BLAST Tournaments Due to Visa Issues

Falcons, who are one of the upstart teams competing on the CS2 level, announced that they will not be participating in two of the biggest upcoming BLAST tournaments due to visa complications regarding their young player, Kyousuke. The team formally dropped out of BLAST Bounty (August 5–17) and BLAST Open London (August 27 – September 7), with a combined prize pool of $830,000.

The issue is in the travel papers required by Kyousuke, a 17-year-old who has never been abroad before. It makes the process of obtaining a Schengen visa more complicated and time-consuming.

“Kyousuke is 17 years old. He’s never traveled before, which makes getting a Schengen visa more complicated,” explained Javier Russo, the team’s manager.
“We will get the visa, but initially for 30 days only. This means he’ll need to reapply between tournaments. That takes quite a bit of time, so we might not be able to attend every event that requires a Schengen visa.”

The decision highlights a shared struggle for esports teams with young and relatively inexperienced players — the organizational side of international competition can very often prove to be a roadblock, especially when consecutive tournaments necessitate quick travel between European countries.

Though saddening to fans, the team explained that the withdrawal is temporary and purely logistical. Falcons are still interested in playing at the international level once these visa problems are sorted out.

Falcons were expected to introduce a presence in every one of the tournaments. BLAST Bounty is renowned for its new bounty-style reward system and will be heavily watched by BLAST Open London, among the most major fall season events. Their lack leaves a huge gap in the roster of participants in the competition and raises questions about how organizers and teams can do better in the future to contribute more towards young players.

In the meantime, Falcons will focus on getting a steadier schedule for travel and permitting Kyousuke to continue attending upcoming events without interruption.

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