- With the war in Ukraine heating up, some CS:GO teams are leaving their training camps in Poland
- Imperial and MIBR were supposed to stay in the country to prepare for the upcoming South American qualifiers
- Managers say they are in touch with the Brazilian embassy in Poland
The Brazilian CS:GO teams MIBR and Imperial have halted their training in their Polish bootcamp as a result of the Russian attacks on Ukraine.
The War Affects Even Esports
As Europe is witnessing the largest war on its since more than 70 years, many aspects of life of even non-directly involved countries are changing. From gas prices to currency fluctuations, even esports is being negatively influenced by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. This has interfered with some teams’ plans, including Brazilian CS:GO teams MIBR and Imperial, who were attending a training camp in Warsaw, Poland.
The two organizations said that they will be flying back to Brazil earlier today. They were supposed to stay in Poland for four more days, however, the recent escalation in the situation in Eastern Europe has prompted both organizations to return their staff back to Brazil. Of the two, MIBR stayed in Poland longer, after participating in the IEM Katowice play-in stage and were set to play in Pinnacle Winter Series Two, an online tier-two tournament.
More Teams Are Leaving Poland
MIBR at least managed to participate in a tournament before things escalated so much on the geo-political scene. On the other hand, Imperial has been in Poland for less than a week. They were planning to prepare for the upcoming South American qualifiers for the PGL Antwerp Major Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournament. The tournament was supposed to be the first major competition that Last Dance, who Imperial recently signed, would have played with his new team.
Another Brazilian team who plans to leave Poland soon is GODSENT. Like MIBR, they stayed in Katowice after being knocked out from the play-in stage on February 16. The organization plans to take its players out of the country, flying them to Mexico, where they’ll finish their preparation for the Major open qualifiers. Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia, GODSENT’s manager, said he is in touch with the Brazilian and American embassies in Poland.
With the ongoing war in Ukraine, the ESL has maintained that the playoffs for IEM Katowice will go on as originally planned. However, some Ukrainian and Russian professionals will most likely not be able to attend.