Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavik, is tapped to be the host of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, as per people close to the matter.
Laugardalshöll Indoor Sporting Arena to be the Site of the Tournament
The Championship will reportedly be held starting October 5 and will last until November 6. The venue that was chosen for the event, Laugardalshöll Indoor Sporting Arena, is the same one where Riot hosted VALORANT Masters and Mid-Season Invitational events.
As was with the previous format of the event, this one will also be broken down into five separate stages, with the first one being the play-in, which will take place from October 5 to October 9. Following that is the group stage from October 11 to 18. The quarterfinals and playoffs will be held on the same dates from October 22 to 25. After a few days’ break, the semifinals will be held on October 30 and 31. The finals are going to be on November 6.
Concerns Due to the Pandemic
Unfortunately for many LoL fans, the event will not have a live audience due to COVID-19 restrictions. It is expected that Riot will confirm Iceland as the location for the event later this week. Travel restrictions are the main reason Iceland was chosen. Concerns for the players being able to travel to the country to attend the event, as well as to be able to leave it, in order to return to their home countries, motivated Riot Games to pick Iceland as its host venue for the event.
The event was initially destined to be held in China. However, Riot confirmed in late August that it would be moved Worlds to a European country. Riot already safely held the VALORANT Masters and Mid-Season Invitational events in Iceland earlier this year. They stated that the country was chosen due to the rise in the Delta variant of COVID-19 and worries that the potential strict travel rules might infringe on the ability of many players to attend the event.
Not Everybody Would Be Able to Attend
Due to the pandemic, visas for Vietnamese residents have been increasingly restricted. Because of this, the Vietnam Championship Series teams have missed out on the 2020 World Championship, which took place in China in October and November last year, and the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational in Iceland. It is still unknown how Riot will solve the VCS team situation.
There will be 22 teams to travel to Iceland after regional leagues have taken place both online and offline. Participants include LCK winner DWG KIA, LPL winner EDward Gaming, LEC winner MAD Lions, and LCS winner 100 Thieves.
