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ESL Pro League Season 11
ESL announced that Season 11 of the ESL Pro League, its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league, will play all matches online and will move the finals from Denver to a studio in Europe. Representatives from the participating organizations and the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association have offered up their own training spaces for those still scheduled to come into the country.
“In light of the current dynamics regarding COVID-19, we have made the decision to play the regular season matches of ESL Pro League Season 11 online, and are moving the finals from 1STBANK CENTER, Denver to a studio location without a live audience in Europe,” ESL said in a statement.
“This decision was largely motivated by the fact that Malta, the country of our originally planned studio location, has instituted a wide range of travel restrictions and quarantine regulations as of today. We fully support all measures aimed at containing the COVID-19 dynamics as much as possible. These travel restrictions have made it impossible for a large amount of staff and the majority of teams to make their way to the planned season location.”
ESL went on to say that teams will now play matches from “home, team houses or in suitable boot camp locations in Europe” on “dedicated online servers.”
With the majority of teams already in Europe, representatives from the participating organizations and the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association have offered up their own training spaces for those still scheduled to come into the country that may no longer have the right facilities.
People that have already purchased tickets for the finals will see refunds, with further instructions on the way from 1STBANK Center.
With the spread of the novel coronavirus, there has been a multitude of leagues and events that have moved their matches to online play or sequestered in a studio with no fans.
FLASHPOINT, another CS:GO league, issued a statement earlier this month stating that all matches will be played in Los Angeles and that its championship event in Stockholm has been canceled.
