NAVI is unable to participate in ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021

Natus Vincere esports club made a difficult decision to withdraw from the ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021. The main reason is COVID-2019. Yet, it is not just that.

Here's the full info on the situation for you to stay updated. 

What happened?

At the end of last week, ALWAYSWANNAFLY and Iceberg tested positive for coronavirus, which forced our Dota 2 team to start practicing with stand-ins. A few days before the flight to Singapore, another test showed that Mag has COVID-19 too. He was in contact with the other team members in the last boot camp. However, he interacted with neither Iceberg nor ALWAYSWANNAFLY since they weren't even there.

During the last few days before the flight to Singapore, some of the team's players caught a fever. As they were in contact with Mag (which was indicated in the health declaration for the flight), the risk of being quarantined in another country for a long time increased significantly.

Risk of missing the DPC season

The tournament operator assured us that the policy in Singapore regarding COVID is as follows. If at least one player has COVID-19 on arrival, everyone will have to self-quarantine. In this case, [:ua:] NAVI will not be able to participate in the Major, even if the complete roster is in Singapore. At the same time, it is not clear how long the possible quarantine will last. It's possible that players would not return in time for the start of the DPC season.

Difficulties with substitutions and a high chance of being left with four players

It is hard to find substitutions when there are not many players available. It is also not allowed to pick players who have already played in the first division before. [:rs:] LeBron was eager to replace [:ua:] Mag at the tournament, but his flight got canceled for technical reasons. The very limited remaining time left the tournament operator only with a connecting flight, during which the player's PCR test would expire. This option increases the risk that the player would be stopped on his way to Singapore. In that case, the team will unfortunately not be able to perform at the championship.

We wish the best of luck to the other CIS players at the Major, and a speedy recovery to Mag, Iceberg and ALWAYSWANNAFLY. We would also like to express our gratitude to Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev. He agreed to help the team and flew to Singapore long before we'd decided to withdraw from the tournament. We are sure that his indispensable experience can still help one of the teams, given the rapid growth of disease among players.