PGL Esports has put out a statement on how esports organisations with ties to the Russian government will be engaged in the forthcoming PGL Antwerp Major. In a nutshell they won't be engaged at all.
As other esports organisers across the globe have done, any team having links or associations to the Russian government will be barred from participating in any RMR matches or the Major.
Here’s the official statement from PGL
This implies that neither Virtus.pro nor Gambit Esports will be represented, although players affiliated with either esports team will be permitted to compete under a neutral moniker and in neutral clothing.
Statement goes on like this:
"With the current appalling situation in mind, we have decided that individuals and organisations with connections to the Russian government will not be allowed to be represented in upcoming RMR matches and the PGL Antwerp Major. Therefore, as things stand, we will ban Virtus.pro and Gambit Esports from participating in the RMR and the upcoming PGL Antwerp Major. We will, however, allow the players currently associated with Virtus.pro and Gambit Esport to play under neutral names and jerseys, as we recognize that the players are not complicit in the situation."
Basically the same scenario that happened in ESL Pro League 15, also applies here. To jog your memory, these two teams attended the event under their new team names “Players” and “Outsiders”.
MTS, Russia's largest telecommunications network, owns Gambit, and one of its shareholders is billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov. Virtus.pro, on the other hand, is administered by the Russian state-owned insurance business Sogaz, which has been sanctioned by the European Union (EU) since the start of the Ukrainian war.
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