CSPPA, tournament organizers in talks to change off-season dates

The Counter-Strike Professional Players' Association (CSPPA) and various tournament organizers are locked in talks about changing the dates of the summer and winter player breaks, HLTV.org has learned.

The change to the summer off-season dates was proposed by ESL in cooperation with DreamHack and StarLadder in light of the global limitations imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, which have caused tournament organizers to make considerable adjustments to the event schedule.

Scheduled to start on July 15 and end on August 15, the summer break would take place more than two weeks earlier, from June 29 to July 31, according to the proposed dates. That change would most notably affect ESL One Cologne, whose original dates on July 6-12 would fall within the off-season.

ESL is currently studying the possibility of moving the staple event to August and holding it in a studio environment. The German tournament has been in serious doubt since the country's government extended the ban on all major events until the end of August in response to the pandemic.

The CSPPA has suggested prolonging the winter off-season by a week to last until January 17, taking into account players who celebrate Orthodox Christmas on January 7. That adjustment, which has already been accepted by ESL, DreamHack, and StarLadder, was proposed after several parties expressed their criticism regarding the old dates when IEM Katowice Europe Closed Qualifier took place on January 9-10 this year.

HLTV.org has reached out to ESL and the CSPPA for comment.