Virtus.pro replaced by ENCE at EPL after being turned away at border

The withdrawal comes as a major blow to the Russian team's hopes of qualifying for the StarLadder Budapest Major.

Virtus.pro have withdrawn participation from the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 22 after three of their players were unable to cross the Swedish border, the organization has announced.

According to the post, the players were turned away and their visas were revoked over insufficient medical insurance, which the organization claims had been accepted in the past by Schengen border officials.

"Upon entering Sweden, border control raised concerns regarding the medical insurance of three players. Notably, the same insurance policies had previously been accepted without issue in other Schengen countries. While new insurance policies were promptly arranged, by that time the decision to deny entry had already been made, and the players' visas were revoked," the post said.

The withdrawal comes as a major blow to the Russian side, for whom the participation in Stage 1 of the Swedish tournament was crucial in ensuring their place at StarLadder Budapest Major.

The team now has nothing left to do but wait while it is currently projected to finish 15th out of the 16 European qualifying spots at the invite cut-off on October 6, with several teams still in play to overtake them, such as fnatic, SAW, BetBoom, PARIVISION and HEROIC.

ESL has replaced Virtus.pro at the tournament by ENCE, who may now be forced to withdraw from the ongoing Birch Cup in order to make it to ESL Pro League on time for their opening match against M80 on Sunday.

This would put them in the same basket as Gentle Mates, who withdrew from the Polish tournament earlier today after replacing Lynn Vision at the Swedish tournament.

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