Vitaliy Bozhko, lead esports manager at WePlay Esports:

– The participation of Chinese teams at WePlay AniMajor involved a lot of concerns from the start.

For instance, a few days before the expected departure date, it became known that the Vici Gaming manager would not be able to come to WePlay AniMajor. To make the team’s trip to Kyiv easier, we reached out to Team Aster, who agreed to help and accompany members of another team.

However, after some time, the Team Aster management informed us that the players had the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and to do that, the team would have to stay in China a few days longer. We decided to change the flights for Team Aster and PSG.LGD so that the Team Aster players could stay longer in China, and Vici Gaming would get to the tournament together with PSG.LGD.

Already at this stage, many employees who were involved in organizing flights were closely following the situation with the Chinese teams. We tried to find the best solution for the teams to get to Kyiv as easily as possible, and have some time in the lead-up to WePlay AniMajor.

Due to the recent changes in international air traffic, the Chinese teams’ return tickets were canceled. And without return tickets, the team members could not leave China.

To resolve the situation and conduct WePlay AniMajor in full force, we decided to organize a private return flight to China for the teams. This is an unprecedented step for us, but the reasons for it are unique. It’s hard for me to imagine another scenario in which a tournament operator would go to such lengths.

We will soon start greeting the players from China in Kyiv so that they can start preparing for the competition. We are grateful to all parties for their understanding during this difficult period for many of us.

#weplayanimajor #dota2animajor #weplaymajor #weplaydota2