SANJI Announces Return to CS:GO After One Year of Inactivity

The talented CS:GO player from Uzbekistan, Sanjar "SANJI" Kuliev, has announced his return to competing once again following a year of inactivity. The 23-year-old is still under contract with the Russian esports organization, Virtus.pro (VP), whose active lineup continues to compete under the neutral banner of Outsiders.

SANJI had been removed from Virtus.pro's CS:GO roster in October last year ahead of the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, which was the first Major taking place after a break of more than two years of online competition.

The decision had received some backlash from the CS:GO community because SANJI had helped Virtus.pro qualify for the Major, but barely a week before the tournament he was cut from the active roster to make way for a new rifler.

SANJI seeks new offers following his CS:GO comeback announcement

After a year of sitting on the sidelines, recovering and taking a break from the competitive circuit, SANJI has announced his return to CS:GO. He is seeking new offers but clarified beforehand that he was still under contract with Virtus.pro.

He was dropped from VP's active lineup last year, just a week before the Stockholm Major, and was replaced by Evgeniy "FL1T" Lebedev to strengthen the roster for the tournament ahead.

The change came as a bit of a surprise because teams generally do not tend to switch their lineups before a tournament of this level. This move was also met with criticism from fans and supporters because SANJI had stuck with the team through the harsh online phase and helping the team qualify for the Major. But at the last moment was removed from the team.

Since then SANJI has been a part of VP's bench with its lineup continuing to compete in tournaments under the neutral tag of Outsiders.

During his time away from the circuit, SANJI maintained a low profile away from social media, to then announcing his return a few days back on 12^th October. However, it remains to be seen which team comes forward with an offer for the Uzbek lurker whose contractual association with VP could prove to be a hinderance for international teams.