SEA Dota teams in visa turmoil ahead of Arlington Major

One thing we haven’t missed from international Dota 2 tournaments is visa issues, something SEA Dota is being acutely reminded of today (July 25th), as it emerged multiple teams may have been affected by visa issues. The reports came as BOOM Esports manager, Isaac “Lane” Alfon, posted on his Twitter about his own team’s visa applications.

Sharing his own team’s successful visa application, Lane noted that Talon Esports’ Worawit "Q" Mekchai and members of Fnatic had been declined visas: “US visa approved for skem tims and me. Japoy and Jackky will have their appointment tomorrow. Sad to hear about Q’s and Fnatic getting declined again.”

This was echoed in tweets by Fnatic support Jaunuel Arcilla, who posted this morning “Saddest day of my life” just hours after posting: “Visa day. Please be good to us.” The pair of messages seem to confirm the worst for Fnatic.

It’s uncertain whether the visa issues affect the entirety of Fnatic. However, the implication is that it could affect the team's attendance to the event. Talon, on the other hand, will likely have to find a stand-in. However, there is apparently still a final avenue of application for both these teams if they apply in Jakarta.

At ESL One Stockholm 2022, the Stockholm Major, all four Chinese teams were unable to attend. This was due to severe lockdowns in China at the time. Visa issues and travel restrictions also meant that Mind Games was disqualified, and OG played with stand-ins. It was a depleted Major with teams and players missing.

Now, with SEA teams facing visa issues, history looks to repeat itself. The Chinese teams at Stockholm played a replacement regional finals. However, if Fnatic are the only team absent, there will likely be no substitute event.

The PGL Arlington Major is set to take place from August 4th to August 14th between 18 of the world’s top Dota 2 teams. Whether all of them make it with the on-going visa issues remains to be seen.