ESL Reportedly Aiming to Host the Second CS:GO Major of 2022 in Brazil
Rio de Janeiro might finally be getting its promised CS:GO Major!
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ESL is currently in discussions with Valve to host the second CS:GO Major of 2022 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. This development comes following an earlier report from September 2021, when ESL had revealed that IEM Rio Major 2022 was being kept under consideration with Valve.
It seems that ESL will be hosting the IEM Rio Major in the second half of the year, tentatively from 31st October to 13th November, according to a report by Dexerto.
Initially a CS:GO Major at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil was planned to take place around May 2020 under the name of ESL One: Rio Major. However, following the onset of the global health crisis it was first postponed indefinitely and then canceled later on.
Report: ESL is working with Valve to host the CS:GO Fall Major in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro was initially supposed to get a CS:GO Major in 2020, but due to a global health crisis it was cancelled. Finally, when there was an opportunity for a Major tournament to take place in 2021, PGL decided to host it in Stockholm, Sweden.
However, last year in September when ESL released its plans for the 2022 CS:GO season, they specifically mentioned among other things that the IEM Major Rio 2022 was something that had been kept under consideration with Valve.
Now, about four months later reports have surfaced claiming that ESL has started working with Valve to host the IEM Major Rio 2022 in the second half of the year, tentatively from 31st October to 13th November.
If this is officially confirmed, it would mark a return for ESL to host a Major tournament after more than 3.5 years, as their last such event was IEM Katowice Major 2019 which took place from 13th February to 3rd March 2019.
The venue of the new IEM Rio Major 2022 is still uncertain, however, for the canceled 2020 version of the tournament its playoffs were supposed to be held at the Jeunesse Arena in front of a live audience. This multi-purpose indoor arena has previously hosted esports tournaments like the League of Legends Mid-Seasonal Invitational 2017 and Rainbow 6 Siege Season 8 Pro League Finals 2018.
Apart from this, Valve is planning on hosting another CS:GO Major from 9th to 22nd May of this year. The organizer of this event hasn't been announced so far, but more information will be revealed as we come closer to the date of the event.
