Today, the official website of Natus Vincere announced that the team will be skipping the upcoming IEM Dallas and BLAST Premier Spring Final due to a packed tournament schedule.
The team's statement reads as follows:
Due to the tight tournament schedule, not all of our CS:GO players are able to obtain visas to the United States. Therefore, NAVI will not be participating in the upcoming BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023. The next tournament for NAVI CS:GO will be the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups, which will begin on July 10 after the players' summer break.
See you in the new season.
This was previously reported by the team's rifler, Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovsky, who stated that the team is indeed facing issues with obtaining visas to the United States. It is understandable, as the team has two Russian players, and after February 24, 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine, the United States has made it much more difficult for Russians to enter the country.
b1t:
[Question: Will you be playing at BLAST in Washington?] It is still not entirely clear, but it is possible that we won't. There is a chance to obtain visas for Washington, but I don't know if it will work out for us. The chance is small, but it exists.
As a result, we will not see Natus Vincere competing in these two tournaments. Their next tournament will be the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups, starting on July 10 after the players' break.
It has been confirmed that Complexity Gaming will replace NAVI at the BLAST Premier Spring Final.
Earlier, it was reported that Amiran ami Rekhviashvili, the coach of Natus Vincere Junior in CS:GO, might take the position of the main team's coach, replacing Andrey B1ad3 Gorodenskiy in that role. According to CS GO NEWS Telegram channel, citing their sources, Gorodenskiy may transition to the position of a sports director within the organization. As of now, NAVI has not officially announced any changes to the team roster.
It is likely that the team is considering changes following their disappointing performance at the recent CS:GO Major, the BLAST.tv Major Paris 2023, where they finished 9th-11th.
Just a reminder, the BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023 will take place from June 7th to June 11th in Washington, D.C., USA. The teams will compete for a prize pool of $425,000 and a spot in the BLAST Premier: World Final 2023. The tournament schedule and results can be tracked through this link.
As for IEM Dallas, it will begin on May 29th and run until June 4th. The tournament features a prize pool of $250,000 and one slot for IEM Cologne 2023.
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