YEKINDAR to Reportedly Consider His Future With Virtus.pro After Antwerp Major

Barely a week is left for the PGL Antwerp Major 2022 to kick off and a report has surfaced stating that Latvian entry fragger Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis might be reconsidering his future with Virtus.pro (Outsiders) after the Valve sponsored tournament.

This is not the first time that such an issue has surfaced. Earlier in March the 22-year-old had said that his future with Virtus.pro (VP) was "uncertain" in an interview with Sportacentrs (Latvian media outlet), due to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict which has resulted in multiple sanctions being imposed on Russian esports organizations.

There is a possibility that YEKINDAR might part ways with one of the top CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) teams, Virtus.pro after the Antwerp Major, according to a report by Dexerto.

PGL Antwerp Major 2022 could reportedly be YEKINDAR's last outing with Virtus.pro

Reports have come in that the talented entry fragger YEKINDAR, who was the eighth best CS:GO player in the world last year according to HLTV's annual player rankings, might be considering a future where he is no longer a part of Virtus.pro after the PGL Antwerp Major 2022.

The reason behind this decision is allegedly related to Russian esports organizations like Virtus.pro and Gambit Esports facing multiple sanctions from various tournament organizers like BLAST Premier, ESL, and most recently PGL itself.

BLAST was the first to ban both these organizations due to apparent links with the Russian government, with ESL and PGL following suit. However, both the CS:GO lineups were allowed to participate by ESL (ESL Pro League Season 15) and PGL (European RMR and Antwerp Major) under a neutral name with no affiliation to its parent organization.

As a result, Virtus.pro decided to operate under the name of Outsiders while Gambit Esports took the identity of Players. The latter has since been signed by the North American esports organization Cloud9, following its qualification to the legends stage of the Antwerp Major.

Dexerto has further reported that VP will apparently support whatever YEKINDAR decides to do without causing any hinderances, if he decides to leave the organization following the conclusion of the Major.

Outsiders (VP) will be seen in action at the Major as part of the challengers stage following its '3-2' qualification through the first European RMR, where it faced loses against BIG and MOUZ before winning consecutive do-or-die matches.