- PGL is still negotiating with the Swedish government for hosting the CS:GO Major in Stockholm
- The esports league revealed that it has a backup plan if the talks fail to reach a conclusion
- PGL mentioned it had secured two countries in which the CS:GO Major can be relocated but did not reveal which two
As PGL met difficulties with hosting the CS:GO Major in Stockholm, it has started searching for alternatives while still maintaining negotiations with the Swedish government.
Plans B and C Have Been Devised
The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major, hosted by the Professional Gamers League and sponsored by Valve, was originally planned to take place in the Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. However, the COVID-19 situation and its accompanying regulations made things difficult. It is possible PGL may have to resort to a backup plan. The esports league released an update on the situation.
According to what PGL disclosed in an official statement shared on Twitter, it already has a plan B if negotiations with the Swedish government fail. In fact, PGL has already secured two other countries that will happily work together with the esports league for relocating the CS:GO Major. The statement didn’t reveal which countries it has in mind as it is still possible to reach a favorable outcome in the negotiations with the Swedish government.
According to an announcement by PGL, Sweden is a memorable place that contains a lot of Counter-Strike heritage and has contributed a lot to the game and esports as a whole. That’s why it was chosen as a suitable venue that is perfect for holding a CS:GO Major after the one in 2020 was canceled.
The Difficulties With Stockholm
Swedish COVID-19 regulations already dealt a big blow to esports when the Dota 2 tournament The International 10 had to be relocated to Romania because it wasn’t recognized as an elite sporting event, and therefore, players would have been unable to secure visas and enter the country. Counter-Strike fans shuddered to imagine the same happening with the CS:GO Major.
The main issue with the latter event is that should it be hosted, its live audience would be limited to some mere 300 spectators in an arena that can hold up to 16,000 people. This doesn’t fit with PGL’s plans of marking the return of CS:GO Majors with a bang.
The story may still have a happy ending as the Swedish government opened up to a discussion – the Mayor of Stockholm, Anna König Jerlmyr, urged the Minister of Interior Mikael Damberg, and the Minister for Culture and Democracy, with responsibility for sport and national minorities, Amanda Lind, to resolve the issue.
As a result, Lind invited PGL and Valve to discuss the prospects of hosting the CS:GO major in the country. According to the Swedish website Fragbite, Lind seems to be positive that something can be worked out.
We are yet to learn whether PGL will negotiate a good variant for hosting the tournament in Sweden or will have to use one of its backup plans.
